Dark Future
by Familiar47
Summary: Seven thousand years after the events of the films, the galaxy has fallen into chaos. One Jedi violates his code for the briefest moment and sets in motion a new age for the Order as old enemies begin to reach out to take control of the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

Dark Future

You'll call me a nerd for this, but imagine those little letters at the start of every film rolling up the screen when you read this.

_Tragedy has struck the galaxy! The Galactic Alliance has long since vanished, a victim of countless wars, and chaos has gripped the galaxy for seven thousand years. Star systems are now in disarray, with little to no law as criminals and warlords run rampant._

_In the wild void between systems, a Jedi named Sedita Helion is pursued by the Core, the new central power in the galaxy..._

Star Wars is property of Lucas Arts along with all of its species and planets and technology.

By the way, I will be using information on species and planets that I will be acquiring from different sources, and if you see that I have incorrectly stated or described something I insist that you point it out in the form of constructive criticism.

Xxx

**Prologue: A long, long time ago...well more like a long, long time from now**

_**Part 1**_

Sedita cursed as he banked to avoid another set of seeker missiles. Luckily Core patrols this far out were given less properly maintained equipment for their expendable patrol fighters...meaning cheaper missiles that would become useless if they missed their target the first time. The three missiles shot by the left wing of his ARC-193G and detonated several miles ahead of his fighter.

"Damn it," Sedita mumbled. "R12 tell me the coordinates are close by."

His astro droid, made from the now centuries old design of the R12 unit beeped and whooped. Its words essentially translated into a negative response.

"To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, flying is for droids," Sedita glanced at his controls, and opened a view from his aft camera.

Behind him trailed seven Core 'Phoenix' fighters, rather simple designs given to the Outer Rim patrol forces of the Core faction. Usually by now they would have turned back instead of flying this far out into the space of another faction without a cruiser or two as support. But for something as important as what Sedita carried, they would gladly risk angering the Hutts, who had expanded their rule to several isolated areas in the galaxy. This particular area was close to the Arkania Defence Zone.

And speak of the devil, moments later his console lit up, indicating an incoming transmission.

"This is Jedi Vessel 454-Delta to Arkania Defence Zone, requesting assistance; I am under attack by Core fighters." Sedita said in as clear a voice as possible-which was a feat under the stress that was caused by a laser sheering off part of his right wing. "R12 drop another charge!"

The droid immediately opened one of the eight compartments built into the back of the fighter. A single canister was left behind by the speeding ship. The Core pilots spotted it and shifted their formation to avoid it. But two of them were too slow.

The charge instantly shrank into a small light and then shot out a wave of energy. It slammed into the fighters and ripped them apart, and reduced their plots to pulp as their bodies were torn apart in their cockpits.

"Repeat this is 454-Delta to Arkania Defence Zone, requesting assistance." Sedita pleaded.

On the small communications screen off to the far right off his main controls, a face appeared. The operator was an Aruzan, a blue skinned and dark haired humanoid. The male Aruzan was clad in the gray and black uniform favoured by the Hutt states. "Jedi Vessel you are not welcome in our air space. Turn back and take your pursuers with you or we shall oblige your request for our vessels to deploy and blast _all_ of you out of the stars." At the word 'all' the Aruzan's head tilted, his eyes widening a bit, his brow furrowing, and his jaw clenching.

"I am on orders from the Dantooine Protectorate. Our government is in a state of cease fire with your government and I am demanding that you-"

"You do not make demands of Arkania," A new face replaced the Aruzan. "Jedi."

The new speaker was an Arkanian, which looked a lot more like a normal human except for having three digits. The Arkanians may have been under the control of the Hutts, but they still had Arkanians in charge of operations on their own world so long as they played ball for their Hutt employers.

"Commander, I beg of you, I am carrying vital information for the Dantooine Protectorate," Sedita attempted to reason with the officer.

"I do not allow conflicts of others to spread to our space. Turn now or we shall destroy you." The Arkanian threatened.

A moment later R12 let out a shriek, warning Sedita of the signatures appearing on his radar ahead. Arkania was the size of Sedita's fist in the distance, but the three Arkanian cruisers approaching were very much clear. They were designed to be narrower so as to present a smaller target when charging enemy lines, and possessed stronger offensive weapons on their flanks so as to repel attacks from passing vessels. They were similar to Corellian cruisers in most ways, but only grew a lot more deadly over the millennia.

"Well I have to give you Arkanians credit, you're quite thorough in getting your point across," Sedita searched for another escape route. "R12, we might need a new strategy. Please give me a new route."

His radar screen appeared again and plotted a route for R12 to guide the ship through. It ended with a hyper space jump.

"Hyper Space Jump that far? We could run into fifty different ships," Sedita argued, avoiding another salvo from the Core ships. Ever since the fall of the Republic and organized hyper space lanes, most unclaimed regions between faction territory was usually too dangerous to allow for long distance hyper space jumps. This forced most ships to make detours...extremely long detours extending day long travels into week long travels.

R12 pointed out how Sedita's options were already few. This was the least likely one that would end with his destruction by the hands of the Arkanians or the core ships.

"Incoming Arkanian fighters R12, make it happen." Sedita released control of the vessel to his droid, which banked off course from the Arkanian fleet. The core ships turned and began to flee upon realizing just how close to the Arkanian fleet they were now. They would most likely pray that the Arkanians killed Sedita and they could take credit for it.

Sedita intended to make sure they would be disappointed. Only three of the fighters managed to escape the Arkanian fighter squadron that took up pursuit. The rest focused on Sedita's fighter, aided by one of the Arkanian cruisers.

"Arkanian vessels I am leaving your territory," Sedita said. "I would find it much easier if you would stand down."

"I gave you a chance already Jedi," The Arkanian Commander sneered. "Now you will not leave this system alive."

"Well that negotiation crashed faster than your old government," Sedita commented, cutting the link. "R12, hyper space route plotted?"

R12 confirmed the new destination. It would take Sedita to a nearby system: Corval. It was unclaimed space, so there was less of a chance of colliding with any passing vessels. If there were asteroids or other planetoids, stars, or other disturbances in the path of the route, his computer would pick it up at a relatively safe distance and bring an immediate halt to the Hyperspace jump.

The cockpit darkened as most systems powered down to redirect energy towards the hyperdrive. Sedita glanced once more at the aft view screen and saw the Arkanian fighters falling behind. "Ta-ta." He allowed himself a grim smile before his fighter jumped into Hyper Space.

Xxx

**Corval III (moon)**

Corval was a gas giant consisting of average resources and size, but had yet to be mined even decades after the system was discovered. The only settlements in the system were on its third moon, which had been terraformed to be more suitable for life. One settlement, consisting of just over seven thousand, mostly humanoid species was located in a farming region.

Rain Tenebra had moved to Corval from Tatooine after managing to buy herself her freedom from slavery. It was a tricky process, but legally anybody who brought enough money to a slave broker was allowed to select a slave to be freed...as long as the slave broker did not know they themselves were the slave in question until the credits were placed in the machine used to process the purchase and emancipation of slaves. Brokers would just take the money for themselves and kick the slave out if they discovered their status.

Luckily Rain had chosen carefully when and how to act. She targeted one slave broker who was one of the three who worked shifts on the east side of Mos Eisley. The broke was an Echani woman who enjoyed the cantinas too much, and also enjoyed women over men. Soon the broker became easy to follow. Rain would record his daily schedule, and then secured herself the materials needed to execute her plan.

She seduced the Echani on one of her late night escapades after gathering a thousand credits, and led the broker back to the Management Building where brokers would process slave trades and emancipations. She slid the credits into the machine; saying to the drunken Echani that she wanted to free a friend-she even persuaded a local woman to pretend to be a slave for her. The moment the credits went in and Rain had her slave collar scanned, she tore the infernal device off and used the Echani slave broker's discarded stun baton to beat the woman into unconsciousness. She had to repeat this with another broker who had returned to the building for the late night shift.

After thanking and paying the woman with money she stole from the brokers, she volunteered for a colonization organization's latest project: Corval III.

Now here she was, curled up on her side, laying in a hammock near a small one room house that she was provided for her voluntary service to live on the terraformed moon. She appreciated the quite of Corval's nights, when the only noises were engines of other vehicles nearby, and the only lights were miles away in the nearby small settlement. Most people stayed near the settlement where there were guards, but Rain loved the isolation.

She stretched and turned over, yawning. She got out of the hammock and left behind the two trees she had hung the hammock between. As she stepped up onto the porch she checked the blaster rifle that was resting next to the door. She had scrounged up enough credits to purchase the cheap hunting rifle, which would take out any opponent with a good hit if they had no armour. She kept it in case somebody ever tried to cause trouble for her.

Of course, after three years on Corval, nobody ever tried to bother Rain anymore. They knew she didn't like trespassers, and she hated unwelcome conversations. She had a few friends in the settlement, and another one further away, but that was it.

Swiping her hand over the scanner, she entered the house and set the rifle at the foot of her bed. Despite being small, the single room in the house held a bed that put her old cot from her slave days to shame, a desk with a computer uplinked to the colonial network all over Corval III, a closet with plenty of clothes, a small showering and washroom unit cut off from sight by a few simple walls and a door. It had all the luxuries of a real, full sized home. It was all about eleven or twelve feet by fourteen or fifteen feet of her own personal kingdom.

"No new messages," The automated announcement came from her computer, acknowledging her entry.

"No, really? Thanks," Rain muttered, pulling off her boots.

"You are welcome, Ms Tenebra."

"Open colonial entertainment on the Holo-Vid player," Rain ordered with a yawn as she began to strip. "Look at the sports channel."

The holovid screen on the wall opposite from her bed flicked on as Rain stepped into the shower section. After a brief warm shower she was about ready to get into bed and call it a night.

"A warning from Colonial Over Watch," The channel suddenly changed to the emergency broadcast, gaining Rain's interest as she just began to climb into bed. A woman appeared on the screen, being broadcast live from the central news station n Settlement 1. "At 7:53 PM in Time Zone 17, an unidentified object entered Corval III's atmosphere. It is believed to land in the area around Settlements 7 and 9. All colonists are advised to take precautionary measures."

As she went on to describe the object's velocity, acceleration, project size, and affects of it crashing near the settlements, Rain's mind began to race. She was right next door to Settlement 9; it was her official home, and only two miles to the east. And Settlement 7 was only four miles north of Settlement 9.

The projected estimated time of the object's impact was in three minutes.

Rain immediately jumped out of bed. "Finally, something that's actually interesting!" She pulled on some fresh clothes and grabbed her Multi-use Applications Civil Device, or MAC-D. It was basically a form fitting long glove with a built in computer, camera, and a few other devices attached to it. Part of the colonial projects made by the Outer Rim Outreach Organization was to provide colonists with this device as standard issue. Nowadays when colonies made by OROO were further in towards the Core worlds like Corval, most colonists never bothered seeing as pirates and slavers were nonexistent in regions where governments blasted you for so much as coming into their space with the wrong coloured or emblem on your ship.

For people like Rain, it was like a personal gift. Sliding it on, she flexed her fingers and felt the MAC-D adjust to fit her arm. Then she slid her jacket on to cover it and rushed outside to her speeder. Her MAC-D kept an uplink to the colonial broadcasts concerning the 'unidentified object'.

Most might only consider it dangerous, but if she got a picture of the object after it crashed and was the first to hand it in to Colonial Broadcasting she could get a fair bit of money off of it. It wouldn't be a lot, but enough to leave her more money left over for personal spending.

She shot across the land, and managed to see something falling out of the sky. It was a dot at first, but then she saw a trail of fire behind it. She stopped her speeder in the middle of an empty field and aimed her MAC-D up, getting a few snapshots of the object in mid descent. But something odd happened a moment later that made her maintain her position.

The object...began to curve upwards a bit, away from its plummet to the Earth. It glided over the area where it was supposed to land, even turning ninety degrees in a perfect curve...and landed barely a mile north of Rain's position.

This struck Rain as both good fortune and a peculiar development. The object seemed like it was slowing down, trying to fight against the pull of gravity-a fight it lost in the end. It was almost like...

"That was a ship!" Horrified at her earlier excitement, Rain gunned her speeder forward, pushed back against her seat by the winds. She activated the speeder's built in communicator and sent a message to Colonial Administrations. "This is Rain Tenebra, Colonist 45782, Settlement 9. I have reason to believe that the object identified landing near Settlements 7 and 9 is a vessel that has crash landed far off course due to the unusual deceleration and change of course. I shall confirm this in a minute, until then will you people actually answer your damn communicators instead of making me leave these messages?" She shut the communicator off as she pulled to a stop.

The object had crashed near a lake...and was partially submerged and steaming as the liquid evaporated. Whatever the vessel was, it was beaten like Rain during her slave days if she talked back to her owner. What was left of an astro droid stuck out of the right wing of the fighter, and the cockpit canopy was opaque, blocking her view of the pilot...f there was a pilot still alive that is.

She snapped a few pictures of the ship and then hopped out of her speeder, approaching the wreckage cautiously. She stayed clear of it, knowing she could get a hand burned off by the steam alone.

After ten minutes of waiting, she looked around desperately. "Where the hell are you people?" Colonial Forces should have arrived by now to investigate it. Maybe they were all too busy being happy it hadn't damaged a settlement to pay attention to where it landed...or the message she had left in Admin.

After a while-and still no Colonial Forces showing up to help, the fighter looked approachable. Rain stood several feet from it, her MAC-D measuring the temperature of the outer hull. It seemed safe to touch now, but the canopy was fused in place.

She moved to look through it, but was still blocked. She wrapped on it. "Hey in there! Are you alright?"

There was no response for several moments...

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

The pilot was alive!

"Don't worry! I'll get you out!" Rain returned to her speeder and grabbed a plasma cutter. She began to cut away at the edges of the canopy, separating fused metal entirely. After the task was done, she grasped the edges of the canopy and tried to force it open.

"If you're still alright in there, could you help me get this open?" She shouted.

No sooner than she spoke did the canopy fly off entirely. Crying out, she stumbled back, tipping over to fall into the water pooling around the craft.

But a hand grasped her leather glove clad one and pulled her back from the edge. She looked up and met a pair of amber eyes. The man was a little older than her, and had shaggy brown hair. He wore an odd combination of a flight suit and a sort of robe, shaded to favour brown and black. His jaw was smoothly shaped and covered in a layer of facial hair that showed he hadn't the chance to shave in a bit. His nose had dried, cracked blood around it, marring his reasonably handsome features. More blood, still drying came from his mouth and a cut on his forehead.

His robes were torn a bit, and he looked like he was barely standing.

"Thank you," Rain gasped, releasing her hand from his grasp.

"No," He shook his head. "Thank you for helping me."

"Not a problem, but how the hell do you end up crashing like this? Your ship will never fly again." Rain said, looking at the wreckage.

"My engines were damaged, going to Hyper Space was the last straw," The man shrugged. "Where am I?"

"Corval III," Rain looked him over again. "What kind of outfit is that?"

"I don't have the luxury of thinking about a fashion statement, ever." The man replied, setting himself down on the hull and wiping blood from his chin.

"If only we all could say the same thing, now come on, you need a doctor," Rain said, offering him a hand. "If Colonial Forces haven't shown up by now they won't for a while."

"Thanks again, but I need a transport of world as soon as possible, is there a space port?" The man asked, letting her guide him to her speeder.

"We'll deal with that later, you're lucky to be alive right now," She said sternly, setting him in the passenger seat. "Now sit back and try not to bleed to death."

Xxx

It was a ten minute drive to the settlement, where a colonial forces shuttle was only just preparing to lift off. The speeder almost crashed into the gates.

The entire time, the man, Sedita was insisting that she tell him where to find a transport off world. As they came to a stop in the court yard of the main compound of the Colonial Security forces they were met by several officers. They were all mercenaries and volunteers armed with up to date weaponry and given periodic training, but most were human.

The leading officer, a Cerean female raised one hand. "Halt, present Identification!"

"Colonist 45782," Rain held up her I.D. "I had been investigating the crash site of the recently detected object. It was a fighter sized ship." She helped the pilot out of it. By now he had blacked out, and his armour and robes were making him much heavier. "This man was the pilot."

"A fighter? What fighter could travel this far off the grid?" The officer demanded, but none the less helped Rain to carry the man to where two of her underlings set up a gurney to carry the man inside on.

"I think it was a model that uses a Warp Drive, for medium distance travel," Rain replied. "I'm no expert on them, but if that thing hasn't exploded by now you could feel free to retrieve it."

"I'll send a ship over to examine it," The officer promised. "Right now I need to keep our visitor alive and discern why his travels have brought him here...in a star fighter no less." She patted Rain on the shoulder. "You've done good though. Tell you what; help yourself to some dinner here, on the house. And you can claim the standard civil service award. If the clerk argues, tell him Lieutenant Liac Bomun says to suck it up and do as he's told."

"Thank you," Rain was thankful for this. A Civil Service Award meant newer clothes, money to upgrade her speeder, maybe improve her house.

But all of her thoughts were on the man who was being carried inside. Turning back to her speeder to collect her jacket, she noticed something in the passenger seat. It was the man's belt. He had unclipped it at some point during the ride before losing consciousness perhaps? How had she not noticed that?

Then she realized why he had done it: in an attempt to throw away something that would have made the guards toss him away.

A pair of cylinders hang from the belt. They were silver with black components, and were about nine or ten inches long.

They were lightsabers, the weapons of the Jedi Order. If anybody thought the colony was helping a Jedi, most likely it would result in Bounty Hunters or a small army of mercenaries visiting Corval.

Quickly hiding it under her coat, she locked her speeder down and gathered the bundle into her arms.

"What am I doing?" She mumbled to herself.

She had no answer for the question.

Xxx

End of chapter


	2. Chapter 2

Dark Future

Star Wars is property of Lucas Arts along with all of its species and planets and technology.

By the way, I will be using information on species and planets that I will be acquiring from different sources, and if you see that I have incorrectly stated or described something I insist that you point it out in the form of constructive criticism.

And am I the only one looking forward to Star Wars: The Old Republic coming out? Thank you once more Bioware. You set me back to my stone age: the age where I liked Star Wars more than Halo...even though I hadn't played Halo when I was 10. (Awkward silence) Oh just read the story!

Xxx

_**Part 2**_

Sedita Helion awoke on a comfortable bed, covered up to his neck by sheets and a medical droid staring down at him.

"_Subject has awakened,_" It intoned, turning its head before it flew across the bay to where a middle aged Besalisk grumbled as he looked up.

"Yeah, yeah, what?" The Besalisk waved the droid away as it tried to show it the latest scans it had acquired of Sedita. "I see it already!" Snatching the data pad, the large Besalisk stood up and walked over, towering over Sedita. "Welcome back to the waking world friend! The name's Doc Nolta."

"What...where am I?" Sedita looked around, easing himself up a bit.

"Easy there friend! You took quite a crash!" Nolta said, but helped the human up to a sitting position by using two of his thick arms. Despite looking fat and bloated, the Besalisk's flesh was firm and hard like most Besalisks. "Good thing Ms Tenebra found you almost immediately after the crash, or you'd be good as gone by now!"

"Right...my ship..." Choosing to cooperate with the doctor, Sedita glanced around without trying to get up-he hurt too much to try anyways. "Where are my belongings?"

"You sure are a paranoid man, but I don't blame you, not all places are gentle and quiet like Good Ol' Corval." Nolta pointed to a pile of ragged and burned material on a table. "There are your clothes, if you care to wear damaged clothing. Also has your equipment and pack too."

"Can I see my pack?" Sedita asked. "There is something of importance to me, I'd like to make sure it was unharmed."

"Here you go young'un!" Nolta handed the pack to Sedita, who shuffled through it, and sighed in relief as he saw the pyramid shaped object he had worked so hard to retrieve.

"Thank you, doctor," Sedita set the pack aside. "You mentioned a Ms Tenebra, was she the woman who found me?"

"Aye! She's usually a loner, guess she liked the sound of seeing a falling object crash and went to take a look," Nolta nodded. "Instead she found you. I don't know about your ship but you'll be back on your feet after another bacta treatment."

Sedita recalled disconnecting his belt, which contained is lightsabers in the speeder belonging to his saviour. Had she not revealed what he was when she found him? Had he managed to toss it away without her seeing it before he lost consciousness? "I'd like to see this Ms Tenebra if given the chance, to thank her properly for helping me."

"Well that should be easy, she's having dinner here, compliments of Lieutenant Bomun for the 'Civil Service'." Nolta nodded, waddling over to a panel nearby. "I'll call her in for you." He muttered something into the panel and faced Sedita. "Just wait there a second, and your guest'll be here before you know it."

And indeed, soon the doors opened and a young woman stepped into the room. She was short, at about 5'4 and was petite. At first he confused her for a teenager, but began to notice signs of maturity on her-along with some signs of slight or fading malnutrition. She wore a pair of rough leather boots and tan flight pants with a red line on the outer pant legs that led up to her waist. The pants were secured by a regulation belt with a few tools hanging from it. Her upper body was covered by a dark flight jacket that was zipped up and secured to her, fitting snugly.

Her hair was a shade of red so dark that it was almost pitch black, and reached her shoulders. It was tied in a bun at the moment, but even as she walked in she was letting it loose so that it framed her face and the brown eyes that locked onto Sedita immediately.

"Here she is for you, young'un," Nolta said from his desk. "Ms Tenebra, meet our mystery guest!"

"We're well acquainted already if I recall correctly," Sedita said, offering Rain a hand as she walked over. "You have my thanks, Ms Tenebra."

"Just Rain, please," The woman said, her lips curling into a soft smile.

"Very well then...Rain," Sedita nodded. "I am Sedita Helion, and I owe you my life."

"You don't, really," Rain sounded insistent. "I only did it to help you."

"And such kindness is rare in the galaxy, it has been for thousands of years," Sedita replied. "I insist, there must be a way that I could repay you for your assistance."

"Just getting better should suffice," Rain said, trying not to look away from Sedita entirely. "I'd hate for you to die after I had to drag you away from that wreck. I spent more time fearing it was going to explode with me on top of it the entire time."

"I can gladly oblige with that request," Sedita nodded.

Nolta picked up his comm. link as it rang. "Yes? Mhm...I'll be right over." He hang up. "I'll leave you two alone for now. Visiting time ends in an hour Ms Tenebra, so until then make yourself at home!"

The Besalisk waddled out of the room in a hurry.

The moment the door closed Rain inhaled. Sedita's smile shrank a bit, but he still was the picture perfect image of serenity.

"I assume that you want to ask me about what you found," Sedita said after several moments. "It's alright; I have no secrets to hide from you."

"Are you a Jedi?" Rain blurted the question out before she had time to think about it.

Sedita nodded without a moment's hesitance. "Indeed I am Rain," He glanced at her pack as she reached for it. He slowly raised one hand and flexed his fingers.

The pack flew open, startling Rain as Sedita's lightsabre belt flew out of it. He deposited it in his palm, and his smile grew back to its original size. "I see you took care to hide it. Thank you very much."

"So it's true...what they say about you Jedi on the Holo-vids!" Rain said.

"Not all of it is true, I can promise that," Sedita said. "And seeing as I did not wake up in a ditch on death's door I assume that you kept it secret that I am a member of the Jed Order?"

"And it's a big damn risk too, might I add!" Rain said sternly, her hands placed on her hips. "As soon as your healed you need to go. If anybody found out we have a Jedi here and that we helped heal him back to full health, we'd be sacked by a fleet of pirate ships within a week!"

"I understand your concerns, and I will leave as soon as I am capable of such a task on my own," Sedita nodded. "I did not mean to bring danger to your home world."

Rain flinched. "This is a colony world, it's not my home."

"Ah, I see, so you are a Colonial Project volunteer then?" Sedita leaned forward, planting his elbows on his lap as he stared at Rain.

"Yes..." Rain felt a little more at ease as they slipped into casual small talk. "I-I was born on Corellia, but then my family moved to Tatooine when my father went into the smuggling business. Things went bad, my mom and brother packed up to move back home, but ditzy me stayed by my dad's side and did all I could to help him out."

"And as I suppose that it took a turn for the worse, I won't insist that you continue," Sedita interjected. "You have no reason to share your history with me."

"I don't even know why I told you this much already," Rain turned away, looking down at her crossed arms.

"That is rather my fault," Sedita admitted. "What do you know of the Force?"

"That if anybody is born force sensitive they're bound to either get snatched by the Order or killed by a Core Agent," Rain replied. "Why?"

"A Jedi uses the force for many things. One being what you saw me do to retrieve my lightsabers," Sedita held up the belt. "Another is the power of empathy. I meant only to calm you so we could have a civilized conversation. Find it so rare to have one outside of my home nowadays."

"And you're not afraid to tell me all of this? You don't think I'll run and tell the security guards you tried to control my mind?" Rain tested the Jedi's reaction to this proposal.

"Not all Jedi are so trusting anymore, but I saw that you would not act so rashly," Sedita said with that omnipresent smile of his that actually made Rain feel less anxious. "You are born of curiosity; I can see that much of you. You are not so conservative on matters such as this like most are. You kept my identity as a Jedi hidden for the sake of satisfying the thirst for answers you possess."

Rain's eyes widened a bit. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Deciphering the most basic attributes of one person is a necessary talent that the Jedi take care to teach their padawan learners nowadays," Sedita looked to the medical droid as it came over with a tray possessing a glass of water.

"Your daily medical dosage," The Droid explained. "Ingest this when you wish to sleep. It assists with ensuring peaceful and relaxing slumber."

So it wasn't a glass of water then, but water laced with medicines and drugs.

"Ah, thank you," Sedita placed the glass on the nightstand. "For now I'll use what time I have with Ms Tenebra, I'm rather enjoying it."

Fighting the urge to blush, Rain sat down next to Sedita's bed. "You were right about one thing: I want to know more. I want to know about the Jedi. They never tell us anything besides stuff on entertainment Holo-vids that always have some big super hero or an evil villain."

"In many cases over the course of history that has become the case from the perspective of many, but I can understand that," Sedita admitted.

"Could you tell me about the Jedi?" Rain asked, sounding a little more eager.

"It is a rather violent and bloody history," Sedita cautioned the young woman.

"That's always something that teachers try to hide from us," Rain said. "But the galaxy? It is a bloody and violent battleground in most places. I was a slave on Tatooine for quite a few years and had to trick my way to freedom and beat two slave brokers into unconsciousness. I know violent and bloody stopped bothering me a while ago." She leaned forward, elbows propped up on the edge of the bed. "I want to know about what is real, not learn about fake and biased stories."

"It's not common that I find somebody who sincerely wishes to learn about our Order." Sedita propped his chin on one hand and scrutinized the young woman.

"There's a first time for everything." Rain said. "I'd have no reason to trick you, if I wanted to turn you over I'd have shown them your lightsabers when I found them in my speeder."

"And the unofficial protocol for dealing with Jedi these days is to dump them and pray they die before anybody finds them," Sedita nodded. "Very well Ms Tenebra, you've persuaded me. I will tell you what I can. Perhaps one inquiring mind is what it takes to bring the Order back into the galaxy's good graces."

Xxx

Deep within the Maw at a secret base a shadowed figure gazed outside a window into the lined up fighters, bombers, and cruisers on patrol. He waited in the briefing room for the latest reports on their progress. His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened up and his XO, a human with the rank of a Rear Admiral walked in.

"You're early, sir."

"I like to get things started as soon as possible." The man turned and faced his XO. "What's our status?"

"We've rallied almost all rogue factions that possess the ships and man power we need."

"Good. And our finances?"

"We've secured of the old vaults but some have fallen into the hands of pirates and in some cases Hutt factions. Even if we considered a temporary alliance, they would never hand them over."

"And the Pirate scum are most likely working for the Hutts anyways. They will be near the top of the list once our operation begins."

"We've contacted the shipyards as you have requested sir. They've agreed to give us full production and rights. The construction of the vessels specified will initiate very soon. In the meantime we are still scavenging any useful ships and hardware from the ancient times as fast as we can."

"Good. Then we can begin the first phase. There are too many factions out there and none of them will align with us when the new order comes. I want you to take a fleet to Kamino."

"Kamino, sir? But that is a Hutt Member State, has been for a century or two."

"I am providing you with one of the Fleets of War," The figured made a single gestured, and a holographic projector built into the floor displayed the image of a battle station in orbit over the planet Coruscant, the center of the Core Faction. "The Seventh Fleet has just completed construction, and Emperor Cal'Denmar wishes for us to put it to use." Under the shade of the hood he wore, the man smiled. "Do you have any doubts about this operation now, Admiral?"

"No sir."

"Then get your fleet ready for departure in three hours," The man ordered. "As soon as you have achieved orbital superiority, send an offer to the remaining Hutt Forces on the planet. They will be given an amount of time to leave Kamino, or they shall be destroyed. If they refuse...you are well aware of our policy with uncooperative governments and militaries, aren't you Admiral?"

"Yes sir."

"And you shall...?"

"Destroy any and all Hutt Military Targets on or around Kamino until the planet is under total Core Control." The Admiral replied. "But if I may sir...why are we sending a Fleet of War, a thousand ships out to conquer one planet on the outer rim? It is as far from home as we could possibly travel."

"As soon as you have control of the planet, you shall order the Kaminoans to begin an immediate production of units...from their Cloning Facilities."

"The cloning-my god..." The Admiral realized just what his leader was planning. "I see now sir..."

"The template for these units is waiting in a vault on your new flagship. I expect that by the end of the month you shall have Kamino under control, and we will proceed with Phase One."

"It shall be done my lord," The Admiral nodded.

"Very good Admiral," The man turned away from him as the image of the Battle Station vanished. "Now go...and see my will is done."

The Admiral left the room quickly. The cloaked man slowly reached up with hands clad in gloves made of a black material with light, thin, gray armour adorning them. He pulled his hood off, revealing the face of a man in his late twenties, with black hair that was pulled back in many small dreadlocks that were tied into a low tail. A single black line trailed down from his hairline, over his left eye, down his jaw and neck and vanished under the armour and black robes he wore.

"The first step has begun, my master." The man slowly fell to one knee, bowing his head as the image of a completely shrouded humanoid appeared before him. "Emperor Cal'Denmar has produced a fleet that shall seize Kamino, and under the commando Admiral Korson it shall conquer Kamino."

"And what of our operation concerning the Construction Yards of Mustafar?"

"I have dispatched several of our most trusted agents to Mustafar to begin reconstruction of the ship yards located there," The man held up a small data pad that displayed an image of the volcanic planet of Mustafar. "Much of it is in disrepair, but they estimate that given nineteen months and full resources to repair the structures, we could acquire full use of them within under two years."

"You have done well, Disciple" A voice, filtered so that it appeared to be that of many people, old and young, male and female said. The figure shifted a bit, the only indication that it was talking. "What of the Jedi Knight, Sedita Helion?"

"He escaped from our Research Station over Geonosis," The Disciple replied, not daring to look his master in the eye. "I believe the Jedi had discovered that we had unlocked the Sith Holocron stored there."

"This is most...inconvenient for you, my Disciple," The Figure betrayed no emotion.

"But I have a copy of the data retrieved from the Holocron," The Disciple quickly held up a pyramid shaped Sith Holocron. "It is not the complete prize we sought, but it will lead us in the correct direction. Once we have achieved the second stage of our plan, we may follow its wisdom and recover that which was hidden by-"

"No, I shall not," The Figure shook its head. "I knew when I first took you in, taught you to mould the power of the Force to do your bidding, that I would not live to see the day that we recreate the promised era of peace in this galaxy."

"But...my lord, why would you endeavour so greatly then?" The Disciple asked.

"One does not always work for what they may have...but for what they may leave behind," The Figure stated. "When I die-and I know I shall before Stage Two is ready, I shall leave the fate of this galaxy in your hands, Disciple. You shall lead these allied factions in creating a new power that shall dominate this galaxy and cleanse it of the infection that has been allowed to grow for so long. You shall eliminate the Jedi scourge." The Figure leaned forward until its head was in range of a light source on its end of the link, revealing a hood that partially covered a mask.

The mask was skeletal, like a skull without its lower jaw. The only part of the Disciple's master that was visible was a pair of yellow eyes.

"And you, my Disciple...will be known throughout history as the savour of this galaxy," The Master continued. "But you shall require a name to be known by. I forced you to forgo that identity of your weaker self long ago. So henceforth, you have been born anew from your old, weak shell, and shall be known as..." The Disciple could tell without looking that his Master sneered as he concluded his speech. "Darth Novus."

"Thank you, my master." The Disciple, now known as Darth Novus lost his composure for a moment, falling to both knees now with his hands placed palm down on the durasteel floor. "Thank you!"

"Rise now, Darth Novus, Lord of the Sith." A single hand with long, bony fingers gestured.

Darth Novus rose to his feet, bringing his hood back up over his head. "I shall see that your will is done, my master."

"I am no longer your master, Darth Novus," The Master shook his head. "My time as your master is over. I have held you back far longer than I should have. Now you shall finish what we have started."

"The Jedi shall fall, the galaxy shall be cleansed in fire," Darth Novus recited the same thing his master had told him many years ago when he had first begun to train Novus as a child. "And the Sith shall rule once more."

His yellow eyes gleamed in the light of his Master's holographic image. "You need not worry about Sedita Helion, I have sent my best agent after him." His lips curled into a cruel smirk. "Dark Jedi, they may have their hearts in the right place, but they are mere pretenders to the Sith; easily expended...and so damn easy to trick into doing my work for me."

Xxx

**Four days later on Corval III**

"Hate to see yah go young'un," Nolta said. "It's been fun having you around here, only interesting conversation that I can find on this rock."

"Well, duty calls, and it cannot be denied," Sedita shrugged as he finished pulling on the leather gloves provided to him along with a pair of matching boots, charcoal coloured pants, and a dark brown flight jacket. "But I shall make certain to visit when given the opportunity before I depart."

"You're still looking towards Dantooine? Not a popular place, what with all the Jedi they keep," The Besalisk Doctor got to his feet.

"It is my home, I must return to it, nowhere else would feel proper for me." Sedita picked up the pack that contained his few intact belongings, including his lightsabers and communicator.

"Can't blame you, but if you ever feel like getting away from it all I'll help you set up here some time," Nolta offered.

"I'll keep that in mind dear friend," Sedita nodded. "You've been very good to me for these past few days and I won't forget it."

"Well you'd be surprised how few people I get in here, gives me the luxury of getting to know some of my patients," Nolta nodded. "Try not to wind up in here again, with your daily visitor I've had less and less time to finish my book!"

"Well, until next time," Sedita shook the Besalisk's hand. "Farewell Doctor Nolta."

With that he left the medical center and walked out onto the streets of Settlement 9. It had several thousand people in it of varying species and origins. Some even came from the Core Faction from what he heard, which was surprising how travel outside of Core borders by regular citizens was supposed to be illegal.

He barely had time to seek out the space port when he noticed something quite odd. A large transport vessel with an Arkanian Logo on it was coming down for a landing. Once he managed to discern where it was setting down-halfway across the settlement he jogged across mostly unoccupied roads and through fairly occupied sidewalks.

Just as he was entering the market place to cut across it to the space port he heard louder, more urgent conversations. There were also several screams that made Sedita reach for one of his lightsabers and stow it in his jacket.

The moment he entered the market, he saw the cause of the distress.

Several soldiers clad in gray armour were shoving aside colonists with the blaster rifles they cradled. Their visors were pitch black and T shaped like that of the old Mandalorian design-also used by the Republic many millennia ago during the Clone Wars. Each of them was intimidating and professional judging from their stance.

And leading them was an imposing cloaked figure. The hood slowly came off to reveal the head of a humanoid with feline features, angular golden eyes and elongated ears. Black fur covered the humanoid's skin, and was smoothed out.

Pushing aside its robes a bit, the male Cathar spoke up in Galactic Basic. "Attention people of Corval III's Settlement Nine! We mean you no harm, and promise that we shall leave immediately," the Cathar's lips curled back to reveal a set of sharpened teeth-most likely given an operation to make them appear more intimidating...or bite harder. "_After_ we have discovered the fugitive whom we seek of course; I speak of the one who landed on your world only several days ago."

Sedita cursed silently and quickly darted into a nearby alley, pressing himself up against the wall and reaching one hand into his jacket, grasping the lightsabre handle.

A Colonial Security officer and two of his underlings made their way to the group of soldiers. "Hold on now, this is a Public Area, weapons are forbidden, especially military weapons! You either hand them over or return to your ship!" All three officers raised their rifles

"Stand aside, officer," The Cathar said in a velvet voice that was anything but gentle and the voice of reason. "Or we shall remove you. We are seeking a fugitive of the Core Empire."

"The Core has no jurisdiction here," The lead officer scowled. "Now either hand over all of your weapons or we'll return you to your ship by force!"

The Cathar sighed. "Very well then, officer...you want to see our weapons?"

_Hisss!_

The movement was so fast that it took a moment for the crowd to realize that the lead officer had been attacked. By that time the human officer fell in two directions, cut in half up the middle by the red blade that glowed in the Cathar's left hand.

The screams that followed were drowned out by blaster fire. The two colonial officers immediately took cover, one behind a parked speeder and the other in an alley way. They fired at the soldiers, who were gunning down any and all colonists in the market place who wandered into their sights. Another colonial officer had thought to perch herself on top of a nearby building with a rifle, perhaps after being called in as back up before the situation had spiralled out of control. It was Lieutenant Bomun, who had visited briefly to get a statement from Sedita while he was recovering.

She fired a single shot, and managed to hit one soldier under the arm where his armour was thinner. He cried out, dropping his rifle. All three officers opened fire on the disarmed trooper, bringing him down with a half dozen shots.

One of the 'Arkanian' Soldiers swapped his rifle for a large tube on his back. Sedita needed barely a glimpse to know that it was an infantry grade rocket launcher. At first the Jedi was wondering why three Colonial officers warranted such heavy fire power, and spotted the Colonial APC shooting down the road towards the gun fight, most likely filled with reinforcements.

He had to step in at that point, he should have stepped in the moment the Cathar had drawn a lightsabre of all weapons. Sedita stepped out of the alley and reached out with the Force, calling upon it to assist him. It answered and empowered him to lift the trooper as he began to take aim. Crying out in shock, the trooper dropped the launcher, flailing in mid air.

"Jedi!" The Cathar hissed, pointing with his free hand at Sedita.

Sedita flicked his wrist, and the trooper in his force grip was sent flying into one of his companions, knocking both of them to the ground. Then, Sedita pulled his lightsabre out from under his coat.

_Hisss!_

A blade of blue tinged energy shot to life. Held in a reverse grip so that the blade was held in a way that the blade crossed in front of his body, Sedita angled it to reflect a trio of shots from another of the soldiers, flipping his sabre into a regular grip and then back into its original position. Two of the shots struck the ground while the third hit home in the soldier's chest plate, knocking him off his feet.

_Hisss!_

His second lightsabre shot out of his pack and activated before it even deposited itself in his palm. He now began to parry and reflect multiple blaster shots from the 'Arkanian' soldiers. His blades arched and spun in a furious defence as multiple blaster bolts reflected off of them. Two more soldiers fell while the remaining five began to back away. The Cathar on the other hand hissed and extended one hand.

Sedita was lifted off his feet and launched across the market place, slamming into a storefront and cracking the glass of the window behind him. The Jedi clenched his teeth and tried to focus on defending against the next wave of attacks. The Cathar was in front of him a moment later, jamming his lightsabre down at Sedita's chest.

Leaping aside, Sedita engaged the Dark Jedi with his lightsabre. Their blades whirled and arched as they switched between styles. With each clash of the two blades of energy they moved further and further through the marketplace. The Colonial Guards were too busy attempting to repel a growing amount of soldiers-who were now dressed as Core soldiers instead of Arkanians.

The Dark Jedi moved more on the offensive now. He jabbed and Sedita would twist and bat it aside with his sabre; he would slash and Sedita would brace his blade against his opponent's and struggle to overcome the Cathar in the sabre lock. Around them, the laser fire intensified as more of the soldiers poured out of the air port and more Colonial Security officers arrived to combat them.

The Cathar took one glance at his outnumbered soldiers and chose this moment to flee. He leaped on top of a two story, blockish building. Lieutenant Bomun was perched on it, taking pot shots at the Core soldiers. She glanced up at the Cathar and brought her rifle to bear on him, and lost her rifle and her left arm below the elbow for her trouble. She screamed, tumbling in a heap onto the roof, clutching the cauterized stump of her arm.

The Dark Jedi leered at the security officer and flipped his lightsabre into a reverse grip. He was about to bring it down on the injured Cerean woman, only for a blue lightsabre blade to knock his own aside, and for a second one to be held at his throat. The Dark Jedi's eyes locked onto Sedita Helion, who stood over the downed Colonial Security officer, both blades activated.

"You were sent from the Core," Sedita said, keeping the blue blade of energy a mere inch from the Cathar Dark Jedi's throat.

"You are no Sith, I can sense that much." Disregarding the chaos below, Sedita focused upon the Cathar. "You're just a Dark Jedi...trying to find his way in with the Bigger Players."

"You cannot win, Jedi," The Cathar hissed. "Already Darth Novus is arranging for your destruction."

"Darth Novus?" The moment of hesitation was all the Cathar needed to call upon the Force and shove Sedita back several steps. The Jedi quickly brought his right sabre up in a swing that knocked aside a downwards stroke from the Cathar, and spun counter clockwise, angling his left sabre as he came around to impale the Cathar through the side.

Leaping right over the blade and Sedita, the Dark Jedi landed in a crouch and swept Sedita's feet out from under him. No sooner than when the Jedi landed did the Cathar try to impale him through the head. But Sedita shot out with a Force Repulse that made the Cathar stumble away from him. Flipping onto his feet, Sedita started for the Dark Jedi. He slid his left sabre into his belt and adjusted his stance, holding his right hand to level with his left shoulder, his blade angled down, going across his collar bone and ribs.

Swinging his right sabre to the left, flipping it into a regular grip and angling it down a bit he knocked aside his opponent's blade. In the blink of an eye he switched to a reverse grip and swung the blade up, knocking away the red lightsabre again as the Cathar managed to bring it back between him and the Jedi. Flipping the sabre in his grip, Sedita grasped it with both hands and twisted clockwise, bringing the sabre down from his opponent's right flank as he ended his rotation. The Catha once again managed to parry, but then Sedita pushed him with a minor Force Push and then spun entirely, swinging his lightsabre in a clockwise motion enforced by the 360 degree spin he had made. It knocked the Cathar back entirely when he tried to block it.

The counter attack was devastating, but at least it occurred far enough from the downed officer Bomun. The Cathar attacked with a basic strike, and then attacked from the other flank, and then charged up a concentrated amount of telekinetic force as he spun and slammed it into Sedita as he parried it. The attack sent Sedita flying into the air, but he righted himself and landed on his feet.

The Cathar sneered and went in for another attack, but Sedita effortlessly moved to the side, and with a casual upwards tap knocked the Cathar's blade up, and then slammed his hand, palm flat into the Dark Jedi's chest, adding a Force Push that sent the Dark Jedi flying across the market. Pushing off of the roof, Sedita fuelled his own jump with the Force and landed on the same roof as the Cathar, which was the roof of a cafe.

Snarling, the Cathar raised one hand and flicked his wrist. The cafe had a sign built on its roof that came loose and flew at Sedita. Raising both hands, he clenched his teeth with the strain it took to push the sign back and then toss it so far and high it landed outside of Settlement 9. The duel recommenced, and Sedita started off by parrying and countering several vicious slashes from the Cathar.

Finally seeing an opening, Sedita twisted out of the way and swung his sabre up. The Dark Jedi's sabre flew out of his grasp and landed behind him. Immediately the Cathar raised both hands, and Sedita felt his airways close as the Dark Jedi caught him in a Force Choke. Gasping, Sedita was lifted off of his feet and into the air, kicking feebly and swinging his sabre at thin air.

"Now you will see the true power of the-" The Cather was cut off when Sedita curled in on himself, deactivating his sabre and then let out a cry as he used a force repulse that launched the Cathar into the air, breaking his hold on Sedita.

Reactivating his lightsabre, Sedita leaped up and grabbed the Cathar just as he began to descend back towards the roof. Spinning, Sedita launched the Cathar down, slamming him into the roof and leaving an impressive dent in it. Groaning, the Cathar managed to stand up and call his lightsabre to his hand before Sedita's lightsabre could decapitate him. The thrown weapon returned to Sedita's hand as he landed behind the Dark Jedi, who swung around to face him.

With both lightsabers activated, Sedita launched himself against the Dark Jedi's defences. He spun his blades in a frenzy that kept the Cathar distracted and confused, managing to just barely parry multiple strikes with assistance from the Force. Sedita utilized sweeping motions with his blades while spinning, his blades in a constant motion of attack and counter attack. When his back was turned he would sense when the Cahtar's blade would strike and where and properly block before it got close, all the while bringing his other blade around to attack.

The Cathar was able to match his pace, jabbing and slashing viciously, always aiming for a fatal blow. The fight dragged on for perhaps another minute as he tried to break the Jedi's defences and keep his own up. The Dark Jedi grew more and more frustrated and finally made a mistake and jabbed forward with a snarl, launching himself into the attack. Sedita had intentionally left a spot in his defence open, feigning fatigue.

Spinning aside, his right blade came up while the Cathar's arm was outstretched.

With a '_hiss!'_, the smell of burning flesh and fur filled the air, and the Cathar shrieked in pain as his left arm fell, still clutching the lightsabre in its grasp.

"You-my arm!" The Cathar cried out.

"I think you'll survive," Sedita said before he raised his free hand.

The Cathar felt the surge of power emanating from the Jedi Knight and desperately shot out with his one good hand. He managed to resist the Force Push and called his lightsabre to his hand. His form was now clumsy, his moves desperate.

He swung at Sedita's waist, only for the Jedi to fall to his knees and bean back, sliding under his blade. Leaping up and spinning, Sedita swung his blade down at the Cathar, who barely managed to parry. Where the Dark Jedi was losing speed and strength, Sedita only seemed to be moving faster. He spun counter clockwise so fast he kicked up the Dark Jedi's cloak and swung to bisect the Cathar. After he was once again block he swung down and locked his sabre with the Dark Jedi's blade. Sparks flew as they pushed against one another.

Breaking the sabre lock, the Cathar desperately tossed his sabre at Sedita, the force guiding the trajectory of the weapon. But Sedita snatched it out of mid flight and crossed both sabres in an X shape as he got into range.

The Cathar's other arm then fell, and the Dark Jedi fell to his knees, hyperventilating and staring with wide, horrified eyes.

"Like I said," Sedita dropped the Cathar's lightsabre. "I think you'll live."

With a simple gesture, he sent the Cathar flying over the nearby roof tops. The Dark Jedi screamed as he vanished from sight near the air port. Seeing their commander defeated so easily by their target, the remaining Core Troopers began to fall back.

The Colonial Security Guards pursued them, firing their blaster rifles. Two Core Troopers went down, but the rest managed to escape the market area. Sedita stood on the roof of the cafe, watching the diminishing battle. Sighing, he deactivated his lightsabre and slid it into his belt.

A moment later a blaster shot rang out, making Sedita look to the source behind him. In his relief, he had not kept a close eye out, believing the battle won. An enemy trooper had climbed up behind him with his pistol drawn, only to take a blaster bolt to the back. And the one who had fired it stood on the ground, cradling a hunting rifle.

Rain glared at Sedita. "You'd better have a good reason for all of this."

"I wish I did," Sedita leaped down to the ground. "But I might want to find another way off world."

"My people have been invaded," Rain said harshly, pointing further down the street to where a fire fight had taken place between the Core Troopers and the hired mercenary guards. Mostly Security Guards made up the amount of bodies, but several Core Troopers also littered the ground. "By the Core! They didn't come here just to cause trouble."

Sedita flinched at the implied accusation. "I know...they were here for me. They arrived before I could leave."

"What did you do?" Rain demanded. "The Core has invaded us to get to you for a reason, people lost their lives here!"

"I know that!" Sedita said in a firm voice. "And I intend to leave before they can attempt a second invasion like this."

"Tell me _why_ the hell they came for you," Rain demanded. "Or so help me right now I'll drag you to the nearest ship, drag you into orbit and shove you out the nearest air lock!"

"Because of this," Sedita reached into his pack and showed her a pyramid shaped device. "A Sith Holocron...that I stole from the Core Emperor himself."

"Holocron...you told me about those, they're supposed to hold lots of information in them." Rain examined it. "But you stole this from Emperor Cal'Denmar! He could burn this whole planet to the ground just for us getting in his way!"

"The Emperor himself could care little for this...it is his associates who want it," Sedita muttered, pocketing the Holocron. "I've only told you this much because I owed you an explanation for saving my life...again. If you are so fearful of the Core Empire I recommend you leave this planet then. I intend to do so immediately."

"The Space Port was locked down after that Cathar got aboard his ship and took off," Sedita glanced over his shoulder and saw a Colonial Security Guard Sergeant, flanked by two others. "The Director will want to boot you off world immediately, but the Chief AI in charge of this colony won't override security protocol. You've got a week to stay here before Space Travel is permitted again Jedi, and then we want you to never come back."

The human's gaze softened. "You did help us, so we can at least keep the locals from knowing you're why those Core soldiers came here. I'd suggest you both get to the Colonial Security Barracks before anybody sees you."

"I will comply with your wishes, Sergeant," Sedita bowed his head in respect. "I only wish I could have avoided this predicament entirely."

"I understand Jedi, I know enough about your order that you don't make a habit of bringing trouble to other people's door steps intentionally." The Sergeant lifted his blaster rifle. "Now get going. My men have to sweep this area for any surviving Core Troopers and we can't have civilians mixed with them."

Xxx

"The Dark Jedi leading them was not a master," Sedita said as he set his pack down on one of the cots in the room he and Rain had been assigned to. The Director, upon learning there was a Jedi in the compound had demanded that he be tossed off world immediately. The Security Chief had wisely rephrased what the guard from earlier had stated: Space Travel is locked down for one week after the crisis unless it is required. And the only requirement would be if evacuation of civilians became necessary.

Rain was not willing to go back to her house in the countryside due to the risk that somebody might know the Jedi _she_ saved had attracted a platoon of Core Troopers and a Dark Jedi. There wasn't any gossip going around, but to be on the safe side she had gathered a few possessions and moved into the barracks with Sedita. She had made a point of setting up on the opposite side of the room, which had five beds lined up in it.

"He sure seemed to know how to use a lightsabre to me," Rain muttered. "He took Lieutenant Bomun's arm off and cut apart a few more guards."

"Any Dark Jedi trained in the ways of the Lightsabre would know how to swing their blade," Sedita set the Sith Holocron he had acquired on the table next to his chosen bed. "He was strong in the Force, but he was not focused."

"Does that make much of a difference f the results are all the same?" Rain demanded.

"If a river is flowing strong it can overcome most obstacles," Sedita nodded in agreement. "But t would crush everything else in its path."

Sitting down on his bed, he unzipped his flight jacket. "Suppose you take all of that water and focus it into one narrow pipe, and use pressure to move it faster. If and when it comes out, under enough pressure it could knock a man down, possibly kill him, without damaging everything within reach. Guidance from a proper tutor allowed me to overcome him."

"Well isn't that just lovely?" Rain asked rhetorically.

"I understand why you are mad at me Rain, and I am sorry," Sedita stood up and marched over to her bed. "But I can't change what has happened today." He leaned down to her level. "Would you go back and let me die if you had a choice?"

"..." Rain looked away.

They went to sleep that night, feeling bitter towards one another.

Xxx

The next day, Sedita sat in the middle of the room, legs crossed, and his hands on his knees. His eyes were shut as he meditated as he had for several hours.

His peace was interrupted by Rain's return from the women's locker room. She was wearing some Colonial Security fatigues that were a size too big for her, and her expression was stern and accusing. She had not spoken to him that morning.

Opening one eye as she walked by, he sighed. "Good morning, Ms. Tenebra."

Rain did not stop because she was spoken to, but because Sedita had left the Sith Holocron on the nightstand. He had often brought it out as though to try and open it, but was confident that it would even take the masters of his sanctuary many years to open it themselves.

"So this is what those security officers died for?" She tapped it, only for it to fly away from her and land in Sedita's outstretched hand.

"Yes, and it is rather valuable," Sedita stood up.

"Oh, so they died so the Jedi could get some credits, that makes me feel better," Rain placed her hands on her hips.

"Not monetary value," Sedita rolled his eyes, standing up straight. "It is valuable for its knowledge."

"So this is an acquirement for your archives then?" Rain asked.

"I don't make a habit of advertising what the purposes of my missions are," Sedita frowned.

"And I bet that is why Jedi are so trusted," Rain glared at him. "You say you want to restore order and help people, but you never let anybody in, you go about the galaxy messing with the Core Empire and other governments. And for what?"

"I didn't give those Core soldiers a map to your planet," Sedita replied.

"No but you painted a bull's eye on it," Rain said coldly.

"By the Force Rain," Sedita lost his patience-something the council at his Sanctuary would probably either demote him for, or have him sit for months or years meditating or guarding the temple. "I didn't want them to come here! I know that wherever my people go, others come and try to kill us, and only kill innocent people! I know that we never share our knowledge with those who are not force sensitive, I know that we can't expect the galaxy to accept our word. But we're actually trying to do something about it instead of finding an empty planet to live on and pray we can spend our lives without being bothered. You don't know what it's like to be hated by most of the known galaxy!"

"And you don't know what it's like to be a slave!" Rain raised her voice. "If you Jedi are so dedicated, then what about the slaves on hundreds of worlds? Are they beneath your notice? Are we not worth the time?"

He walked over to her. "I and every other Jedi Knight, Master, and Padawan in this galaxy could spend the rest of our lives eliminating slavery and still barely affect it. We could liberate worlds, destroy smuggling rings, and stay awake until our eyes bleed but we couldn't do anything. So we work towards re-establishing a government that can do this. There are simply not enough of us to save everybody! This is a galaxy of hundreds of trillions of beings, and there are less than ten thousand Jedi accounted for. Every day several die, and fewer can be found. Even as we begin to die, we try to help...we try..." He lost the flame in his voice. "And we are hated for it. If you want to blame me, then go ahead, it wouldn't be the very first time it's been done."

"..."Rain shook her head with a sigh. "No...You're right...I can't blame you entirely for this...or myself for saving you."

She locked gazes with him. "The Core did this, there's no excusing that. They stormed my home town with armed troopers and a...Dark Jedi. You did your best to help and I shouldn't be angry at you for that..." Her expression softened. "I should be thanking you."

"...thank you, Rain," Sedita exhaled a breath of relief. "I did not want to fight with you over this."

"And I shouldn't have tried to fight over it," Rain muttered. "I feel like such a child. I and many others would have probably died if you had simply ran away when the Core invaded. We owe you our lives for chasing away that Dark Jedi."

"Your forgiveness was all that I sought," Sedita insisted, only to be silenced before he could continue by Rain placing a light, brief kiss on his lips.

"You've got it then...Sedita," Rain said. "But after how I acted after you stopped that Dark Jedi, I should be the one asking for forgiveness."

Sedita cracked a smile. "If you want it in the same form you gave it to me then that will be a problem."

"I thought Jedi didn't know how to joke," Rain said accusingly.

"Spend long enough out this far from home and you pick up a few things along the way," Sedita shrugged. "The council of my sanctuary often were...critical of my nature."

"Well I'm glad we didn't have an unfeeling robot for a Jedi to arrive," Rain said, grateful that the brief invasion had not turned out worse. "Most other Jedi would have tried to escape first, wouldn't they?"

"For a holocron like the one I have...yes, many of today's Jedi would put escape as a first priority." Sedita nodded. "We fight against many enemies, and the one I have escaped is employing the Dark Side of the Force."

"...do you mean..._Sith?_" Rain asked.

"Perhaps I should have left that out during our...sessions," Sedita muttered, pacing back and forth slowly. "But...I am uncertain, though I feel that may be close. The Sith have not truly risen for thousands of years...but then again the same was said before the First Republic fell, in the ages of Master Yoda."

"I'm guessing only Holocrons like that are all that are left of them then," Rain looked at the bag containing the Holocron.

"That would be correct, the Sith leave many artifacts," Sedita pulled the Holocron from his bag. "They do so for future generations of Sith and Dark Jedi who possess potential to achieve their full capacity. Jedi...we prefer to leave small marks on the galaxy if possible. We leave our teachings through our pupils or in our history books, not always with a Holocron. The Sith however also built weapons to continue their war on the republic, great juggernauts of power...power that has thankfully gone undiscovered in this day and age."

"Like...the Dark Reaper?" Rain whispered. "Or The Death Star?"

"The Death Star was not a...Sith construction, though a Sith Lord ruled the original Death Stars constructed by the Palpatine Empire eons ago. But yes, constructs such as the Dark Reaper, which fed off of the Force in living beings; and the Death Star...which could silence billions with a single shot were made to destroy resistance to the Sith." Sedita explained. "The Jedi have made a job of tracking down other Sith Relics to be destroyed. I pray that none are left to be found."

"But isn't a weapon's nature derived from how it is used?" Rain asked. "If you had a Death Star like in the History Files of Palpatine's Empire, wouldn't you put it to use?"

"And blow up any planet that threatened the Order? I would leave the galaxy an empty place if I did that," Sedita shook his head. "No...the Jedi exist to guide and protect, not destroy and wage war in the sense that the Core does. We fight only to defend ourselves, and to hopefully restore order to the galaxy. We dare not touch our darker halves to achieve that goal...or we would become worse than the oppressors of today."

"What will the Holocron do then?" Rain glanced at the red pyramid in his hand.

"We only know it contains Sith lore...and a lot of it," Sedita replied. "To keep it out of the hands of the Core would be a victory. But the masters of my sanctuary seek to examine its contents, assuming they can unlock it in this life time, and discover if there are any uncovered Sith ruins or artefacts that would pose a threat to this already fragile galaxy."

"How do you unlock a Holocron?" Rain asked.

"I am not familiar with the process, but I know only a Jedi or Sith may unlock a Holocron, as a mastery of the Force is required," Sedita returned the Holocron to his pack. "But technology has its way of mimicking things better left unmolested by science. So they did not wish to risk leaving it in the hands of the Core Empire."

Rain nodded. "I'm starting to understand why you took it. I thought it was just some old 'Sith are evil' justification, but...yeah, if that thing could point to a weapon that could destroy this planet...I'd make sure nobody could look at it." She stood up and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry again...for lashing out at you."

"There is nothing to apologize for Ran, your anger was justified," Sedita faced her. "If a threat was brought to my sanctuary...I would not be so calm as I am now."

He wanted to turn away and just go to bed, but was captivated by the woman before him. She had proven to be uncommon among the masses that would have seen Sedita dead or handed over to the Core. She yearned to know about him, about the Force, about the Jedi...and in return he got to know about her in their few days together. Even now she had put aside her hatred for him where another would have shot him or condemned him for indirectly causing the invasion. It had gone beyond a mild curiosity for her to forgive him so easily.

And it had gone beyond a faint amusement and gratitude that made Sedita return the kiss she had bestowed on him minutes ago. Pressing his lips over hers, Sedita began soft and chaste, not used to such displays of affection and going off of...quite frankly what little he did know from watching others in public. Rain responded to him, enjoying the soft feeling that came from this.

For a moment, Sedita pulled back uncertainly. A smile from Rain told him he had not violated her personal space. He kissed Rain again, leaning in closer.

Bringing her arms up, she draped them around his shoulders, lightly deepening the kiss as she trailed her fingers through Sedita's hair. Sedita gently placed his hands on her hips, drawing her closer to him. Rain arched her back a bit at first, and then pressed herself closer to him, feeling every detail hidden under the thin shirt he wore. He lifted her off her feet a bit so that she did not have to get up on her toes to meet him.

"Rain," Sedita whispered as they separated once more for breath. "If people find out what I am and if we go any further-"

Rain placed her hands on his chest, clutching at his shirt as though afraid he may push her away. "I'm not afraid Sedita. And even if they did get mad..." She kissed him on the cheek. "I don't need a big strong Jedi to fight off some ignorant colonists." She teased the Jedi.

"I want to be sure you won't regret this," Sedita said firmly.

Rain's response was to kiss Sedita again, this time not bothering with being delicately soft in her actions. This was all it took to trigger the most primal of urges that most, if not all aliens possessed. Sedita lad Rain back on his bed, crawling on top of her and capturing her in another kiss. Years of his sanctuary's masters attempting to teach him to control his emotions and the desires that sprang from them vanished.

He wanted to be here, with this woman and there was no Jedi training session that could change that fact.

Xxx

(To the readers, I'm sorry if you want a lemon, but honestly...I am not in the mood for one, but if enough people read this and ask for one to be added in, I will try to add a lemon in.)

Luckily, nobody ever found out that Sedita Helion was a Jedi. The colonial security had made up an albi for Sedita, and none of the civilians who witnessed the fight could properly state Sedita's appearance-most likely due to him fighting for his life. He spent his few days there with Rain, and he left on the promised day, returning to Dantooine where his Jedi Sanctuary eagerly greeted him and the Sith Holocron he carried with him. Once he handed it to the master of his sanctuary, Jedi Master Xephos, he never saw the storage device again. Watching as the Holocron vanished into the council chambers, the Jedi could not help but feel as if the last reminder he had of Rain Tenebra had gone with it.

He and Rain had known he would have to leave, and Rain could not leave her home to pursue a relationship with a Jedi. They agreed that their single night together had been a mere attempt to relieve stress and parted as friends...or so Sedita wished they had. For years his thoughts would be haunted by the visage of the slave turned free colonist who had managed to break through years of strict Jedi discipline within days.

But little did he know, Rain was to be given a reminder of him that would never be forgotten.

Three months after he had left, Rain had visited Doctor Nolta, complaining that she had been nauseous and tired for weeks, and had been so hungry she spent some of her spare credits on food she did not even need-which was odd for her. The Besalisk had given her a check up and let her sleep in his office while he rushed to talk to Director Lir'nal and Colonial Security Lieutenant-or as of a month ago, Captain Bomun to inform them of some concerning news.

Rain Tenebra was pregnant, though she was known for her reclusive nature. The Barrack dorms did not have security cameras operating inside the bedrooms, despite insistence from upper level security guards who felt the extra security would be reasonable; this left them unable to see what Rain and Sedita had done. Only one alternative remained: a Midi-chlorian examination of the child or children once they had developed enough.

Over twenty two weeks into the pregnancy, word had already spread throughout the small colony that Rain was due to give birth. Many congratulated her, and she let down her emotional barrier a bit when several farmers who lived nearby helped her with tasks that became harder and harder to do as her belly began to grow. The fetus had taken on a recognizable shape, and had been identified as a male.

Rain had at first been frustrated, blaming Sedita for her situation. But as her rants ended, and rage gave away to longing and misery, Rain quietly prayed that Sedita would return one day and see his son, their baby. She was actually glad to be pregnant at first...right up until the backaches set in and she began to vomit more. She soon was given a spot in the Colony's Hospital building during the last weeks of her pregnancy. This was when Nolta had acquired the Midi-chlorian examination that Director Lir'nal had demanded.

The test had showed the child possessed a large amount of the microscopic organisms fabled to communicate with the Force. Though fearing the thought of having a Jedi born in the colony, Director Lir'nal hesitantly ordered that the test be kept secret, not able to stand the idea of chasing out either a mother or her child. But they would continue to observe Rain until nearly thirty eight weeks after she had been impregnated by the Jedi Knight Sedita Helion.

The baby was born prematurely, but aside from that he was a healthy human child. Rain named him Venris, Venris Tenebra. He had Sedita's eyes, glowing ambers that were beautiful, but also evidence that Rain's lover had been Sedita. Luckily only a few had ever gotten to know Sedita that much, or even bother to remember his features.

If they found out or not did not matter to Rain however. She was going to have a son, a little boy of her own. If he was born out of wedlock, it did not matter to her, holy bonds were not commonly given out in the galaxy anymore...unless you had some influence or some coin. This also meant most people in the colony would not mind the circumstances of Venris' birth.

Rain Tenebra raised her son on the now thriving colony world for nearly two decades. As he grew, Venris began to look more and more like his father, with his angular features and overgrown brown hair, several shades darker than Sedita's. He was in almost all ways a copy of his father, right down to the bridge of his nose and the width of his chin to the shaggy hair style Sedita had favoured.

But he also had his father's knack for trouble.

Xxx

End of Chapter

How was the lightsabre duel? I tried to base it off scenes from The Force Unleashed and the Old Republic Cinematics.


	3. Chapter 3

Dark Future

Star Wars is property of Lucas Arts along with all of its species and planets and technology.

By the way, I will be using information on species and planets that I will be acquiring from different sources, and if you see that I have incorrectly stated or described something I insist that you point it out in the form of constructive criticism.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Xxx

_**Part 3**_

_A planet floating dead in a void, the stars dimming around it as though the whole galaxy has suddenly vanished. Only the light of its sun and the hulks of dead ships and stations floating in and endless cycle in its orbit remain. Down on the planet's surface, the terrain is barren, dotted by the dried husks of a few trees that have been burnt into blackened twigs. The red gleam of the sun breaks through the cloud cover, illuminating a field consumed by a sand storm._

_Out of this storm, a white robed figure strides confidently, seemingly untouched by the raging gusts of wind. His robes do not even shift with them, as though he does not exist. He stops, and looks up, his hood shadowing his face._

_Before him is a massive structure so large that with the sand storm impairing his vision the whole of it cannot be seen. Only stairs leading onto what seems to be a plaza of some sorts outside a massive open entrance can be seen. The figure steps onto what had once been smooth, white marble floors, now cracked and rough stone._

_He stops and turns, his hands falling to his sides. At the bottom of the stairs stands a figure cloaked in a shade of black so deep it is impossible to define any features to the person beneath the clothing. It is even difficult to tell the appearance of the outfit itself. It pushes a black tunic aside, letting it fly away in the wind._

_He is clad in knee high boots of leather that would shine in a clear light source, with dark trousers tucked into them shaping well toned legs. A long sleeved black coat covers his upper body, the sleeves tucked into black leather gauntlets. Metal armour of a gunmetal gray hangs from the boots, thighs, groin area, chest, stomach, shoulders, biceps, and forearms. The armour on his chest has several coloured keys on it, like a control panel of some sort. A high collar covers the lower part of his face. But it was unnecessary, for a mask and helmet encased his head._

_The visor was a simple set T shape, like the Mandalorian styled helmets of old. The metal is darker than the rest of the armour._

_Lengths of black cloth hang from the sides and back of his waist, while more dark cloth is mixed with the armour on his upper body. It gives him a sort of cape and makes him more imposing._

_His right hand seemingly produced a single cylindrical object. It seems like a hilt that is curved ._

Tssss!

_A ruby red blade hisses to life. Then a tide of darkness forms behind him, and more figures are given shape. Then a second red blade appears, then a third, than dozens of these dark clad soldiers stand before the lone defender...who suddenly was not so alone. The dark clad army had slid out of the shadows like insects from cocoons, where the newly arrived group of brightly clad men and women seemed to form out of the blowing sands. They stood vigil behind the original Bright One._

_He tossed aside his white cloak's folds to reveal a cream coloured ensemble with brown boots. A fair skinned hand comes up, and a cylinder similar to the ones held by the army before him floats slowly into his waiting palm._

_A blue blade extended from it, and was followed by more men and women in white appearing out of the sand storm to confront the invaders with their comrade, their leader. They hold blades of varying colour from blue, green and silver to purple, yellow, or orange._

_The two opposing forces suddenly surged forward with battle cries shattering the constant howl of the wind. Several slid down the sides of the stairs while other leaps up to meet them. They clashed on the steps leading up to the plaza. Blades sizzled against one another or sliced through armour and flesh. The many sword users flipped and spun as the battle slowly spread out. More and more arrived on each side until thousands consumed the entire region in a never ending battle._

_Among them stood the original two combatants on the final flight of stairs leading into the structure. They looked untouched by the battle, only focused on each other._

_The Dark One makes his move, charging up the stairs. He cuts down two white clad warriors who attempt to stop him, and then extends his right hand. A stream of blue lightning shot from it, and was caught on the sapphire blade of the Bright One._

_Though forced up a step, the Bright One quickly regains control and pushes forward until he and his adversary are mere feet from one another. The lightning surge stops, and the Dark One immediately begins with an elegant swing with the blade in its right hand. It brings the blade up so it is directly infront of it, and then sweeps it in an X pattern, an invitation._

_The Bright One held his blade over his head in both hands, one leg placed back. They stared one another down, the rest of the world fading away until only they remained._

_Then their blades clashed, crossed in a lock. The Bright One's blade is kept high and moves in constant sweeps and cuts. They soon stood on level ground and exchanged more blows, spinning and ducking. Their fight carried upwards as the Bright One leaped over a horizontal swing and landed several steps above._

_Standing at the top of the stairs, the Dark One fired another stream of lightning at his foe, who raised one hand and caught it in his palm. They struggled to overcome one another in a vicious battle of will. The balance of power could shift either way at any moment._

_Just as it began to shift towards the Bright One-_

"Venris, get up!"

A set of amber eyes shot open, and Rain Tenebra could not help but flinch inwardly as she saw them. The young man lying in bed looked so much like the one who she had fallen in love with years ago...although his appearance was not so _shaggy_. His hair was cut shorter in a more practical way, and parted lightly from off to the right,

Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes. "What is it mom?"

"Get up, quickly!" Rain said urgently, rousing her son from his drowsy state. "Get dressed and hurry outside! We have to go!"

"What's wrong?" This was a rather stressful awakening for the nineteen year old asked, opening his closet and quickly began to dress.

"The alarms were tripped out by the lake," Rain explained. "Something out there is carrying military grade weaponry and they're getting closer. The other farmers are heading for the Settlement."

That got Venris moving. He pulled on a set of work boots, trousers, a black coat, and snatched up the small blaster that his mother had taught him to use since his fourteenth birthday. It was considered a reasonable thing to own a blaster or two on Corval, with all of the wild life around. He slid the blaster into the inner holster built into his coat and followed his mother, holding her faithful blaster rifle out to the speeder.

They barely reached it before they saw another speeder shooting down the road. At first they thought nothing of it, but just as it passed their parked speeder it was struck by a green flash of light and exploded! Venris reacted quickly and grabbed his mother, tossing her to the ground with him over her. He felt the heat of the explosion and knew if they had been any closer they would be dead by now.

Getting up, Venris saw that their speeder was damaged from the close proximity to the explosion. It was now a blackened husk. "Damn!"

"In this case I'll let you get away with such language," Rain grunted as she stood up and charged her rifle. "The sensors weren't wrong after all!"

"Look, over there!" Venris pointed southwest towards the lakes, where more flashes of green came from. Dots of green light shot across the night sky, illuminating the countryside in a soft glow. Then it struck Settlement 9 miles away. Explosions flared and died, and alarms began to wail in the distance.

"Oh god, artillery!" Rain peered through her scope. "..._no._"

"What is it mom?" Venris asked out of concern, crouching with his blaster clasped in both hands.

"See for yourself, son." Rain handed the rifled to the taller human, who peered through the scope.

Along the tree line were arranged rows of vehicles. They were all white and gray and bore a sort of hexagonal symbol. Escorting them were men clad in black and red armour carrying rifles and fanning out in small teams.

"They look like Core vehicles...but those soldiers..." Rain whispered as Venris handed the rifle back to her. "We have to get out of here, and fast."

"How? Our speeder just got trashed!" Venris exclaimed, looking to the remnants of their vehicle.

"We'll make for the settlement and try to catch a transport," Rain stated, slinging her rifle over one shoulder. "I we hurry we can get there before these Core Troops start to make an infantry march into the settlement. Come on!"

They took off at a brisk jog down the road, staying off of it just enough that the darkness of their clothing mixed with the lack of light and the surrounding landscape would keep them hidden from immediate sight. They heard more explosions and cannon fire coming from all directions, though nothing landed near them. It gave the evening an eerie sort of feeling.

As they reached a forested area, they slowed to a walk, creeping through the bushes with their weapons in hand. Rain soon gestured for Venris to stop by raising one arm out to her side. Knowing to trust his mother, Venris obeyed.

She peered out of cover, and then ducked back down as a low, steady _hum_ filled the air. A ship flew overhead, gliding smoothly and with a slow, deliberate grace. It was angular and jagged at the front, smoothing into a sort of compartment twice as long as the front section. It had four thrusters currently working to manoeuvre it while a set of main engines pushed it along. A set of guns hang under the cockpit of the gun metal gray ship while missile pods were attached to a set of wings near the middle.

"Back!" Rain hissed, pushing Venris back into deeper parts of the forest as they sought another way out of the woods. The drop ship moved off, seeking better targets or perhaps having missed them entirely.

"How did Core Troopers land here in these numbers without anybody noticing?" Venris shouted as they slid down a slope and back onto the main road four or five miles from their home.

"I don't know and I won't stay long enough to find out," Rain replied, looking around. "Maybe I was right. They'll wait to send in their infantry until after their guns clear the town-"

"Freeze!"

Rain, as usual did not listen to the order. Drawing her rifle and spinning with amazing speed, she locked onto the source of the voice.

A single trooper had stumbled out of the bushes further back along the path. He held up a long, matte black rifle, aimed right at them! The moment Rain moved, the trooper fired a single shot that flew between them. She raised her rifle as he fired again. Venris had already scrambled to the side of the road and rolled into a ditch.

DOW!

A red light shot from Rain's rifle and struck the trooper in the chest. He stumbled back, one hand where the shot had landed, and tried to bring his rifle up again.

DOWDOW!

Two more successful hits and the soldier went down! His blaster rifle, looking sleek and advanced fell into the dirt. (1)

"Usually you have to try _aiming_ when you get into a gun fight," Rain mocked the dead trooper while she walked over and picked up his rifle. "...this thing's power cell..." She was looking at the box shaped power cell attached to the rifle. "I could fire a couple hundred shots with this thing! Stun settings, optics that could sell for a fortune and a half here...who makes something this expensive anymore for invading colonies?"

She slid the power cell back in and walked over to Venris. "Take it Venris, better to be armed."

"Thanks mum," Venris smiled a bit as he accepted the rifle, thankful for the fire power.

"Show me," That was a demand that came out of the blue for most people, but Venris knew what his mother was talking about.

Ever since he was born, the Colonial Administration had forwarded credits sent to her by a 'friend' who must have had a lot of influence in order to supply her with ten thousand credits a year for nineteen years in a row. She had used the funding to buy food, clothes, new weapons, and a position in the Settlement's school; but the majority of it went to paying for lessons that Venris and a number of other youths from all over Corval took with the Colonial Security Force. It usually ended with several dozen departing as mercenaries, several dozen more becoming full time guards for the colonies; and the majority of them returning to average life and returning every year or two to learn the same skills in case of an invasion such as this.

Rain made Venris learn how to operate a blaster weapon and know its components inside from out. And when she said 'show me' while he was holding a new gun, he had to show her he could safely operate it.

He first hit the safety switch on the side near the trigger guard. Then, ejecting the power cell from the rifle, he held it up for her to see and then slid it back in. He adjusted the scope on the top of the rifle and held it up, aiming at the nearest tree.

For a moment he was ready to fire, but then he had one of his...feelings. It happened whenever he drove a speeder, flew an air ship, or fired a rifle among other things. It would help him to correct mistakes he made, and because of it he had been among the top graduates in the Colonial Security Force's Combat training lessons for two years in a row.

He focused on a tree across the road, and exhaled. He did not peer through the scope, letting his 'feeling' guide his hands as he adjusted them by only a few degrees.

He squeezed the trigger, and heard the eruption of the blaster shot as a single red light shot out of the rifle's tip. It hit the tree, dead center, leaving a hole in it the width of his thumb.

Rain placed a hand on his shoulder. "Very good, dear." She kissed him on the cheek. "Now come on, we have to get to the settlement."

Xxx

In orbit, a single cruiser floated in silence, escorted by two smaller ships perhaps a fifth of its size. They were launching shuttles full of troopers escorted by fighters down to Corval while the flagship maintained an orbital superiority for them.

The cruiser was a mostly simple, blockish shape. It was shaped like a sort of triangle, but five sixths of the length towards the front, the hull split into two separate extensions, leaving a gap several dozen meters wide. At the back of this gap was a hangar bay that had a full squadron of fighters ready to be launched. The twelve members of the squadron stood in a line, hands folded behind their backs, legs slightly spread, and helmets secured over their heads.

Their visors were hard to distinguish from their dark armour. But they were shaped like a short T that split a third of the way down the helmet for form a wide, short, upside down V that was reminiscent of a mouth. Over the visors were flat, red, horizontal surfaces that stuck out a few inches. A red line went down their outer arms, sides, and outer thighs.

They looked as sleek as the gun metal gray fighters that were waiting to be launched.

But a thirteenth figure stood before them. The first thing that would be noticed was the bulky, pitch black cloak it wore and the hood over its head. The armour it wore underneath that went over a full body suit that matched the colour scheme, and was designed to protect against small impacts and keep the armour in place. The armour itself was made up of gray ceramic metal plates that were built into his boots, and attached to his thighs, ribs, shoulders, biceps, and forearms. The collar of the chest plate was wide, meant for a helmet to be attached to it, and reached up to a height that must have covered the lower half of the man's face. The upper half was shrouded by the shadow of his cloak's hood.

"Emperor Cal'Denmar has appointed to each of you and myself, a task of great importance." The man spoke with a lightly accented voice. "Corval is home to runaway slaves, dissidents, cowards, and mercenaries. It has little strategic value in itself, but as you obviously are aware, this is not an invasion. We are in search of just one thing located on this drab world."

He held up one glove clad hand and tapped the holo-emitter in his palm. It displayed a map of the region they would be landing in for the squad to see. "Our infantry and artillery have herded the residents away from this area to nearby settlements. Now with the region cleared of interference, we shall set down there and acquire our target. None of you shall ask what it is, that is not why you were chosen." He pocketed the emitter. "You were chosen for your skill as pilots and your efficiency, and so you shall remain guard while I myself retrieve our target, and then secure my escape route."

He gave the squad a quick look over. "...Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!" Twelve voices cried, all of them filtered by their helmet speakers.

"Master," A soft voice almost whispered from the shadowed areas of the hangar.

The man turned to his left, looking at an area below the wing of one of the fighters that were prepared to deploy. A petite figure that barely came up to his chest stepped into view, covered by a black robe from the neck down. It was a Chiss girl, not even out of her teens. She was a basic example of her species, with long black hair and red eyes that clashed with dark blue skin that was smooth to the touch.

Her face was soft, still having some baby fat in it, but it did nothing to affect her appearance, if anything it made her look healthier and younger thanks to the soft, rounder features. Most would immediately assume she would grow into a beautiful woman one day, and the cloaked man could not disagree, had he the interest in the topic. To him, the girl was just his student and nothing more.

"Vrena, my apprentice," He glanced at the squadron. "Dismissed."

As the troopers scattered, he approached his Chiss apprentice. "I assume your interruption warrants important news?"

"Yes, my master," The Chiss said, her head bowed. "But it is not from the diversion created by our landing force. It is...something different. I felt a ripple in the Force not long after the operation began with the artillery strikes."

This caught the man's interest. "Do you believe that it is important?"

"I am uncertain master," Vrena confessed. "But...I feel it again now...it is strong."

After a moment, he could only agree. "I sense it too, my apprentice...come." He gently took her hand and led her away from the prepared squadron, to an area blocked off by crates and supplies that were stacked up. The man set the holo-emitter on the floor and tapped into it, accessing the cruiser _Rogue's_ long range transmitter.

As planned, it took barely half a minute for the recipient to answer. Nineteen years had done little to affect Darth Novus' appearance, but little did with the Core Empire's access to nearly limitless medical assets, and the prolonged life most Force Users faced. He was sitting, regarding the two with a cold, calculative gaze. "Why have you contacted me, Darth Praedus?"

"My padawan...she alerted me to a great disturbance in the force, my master." The imposing Sith Lord bowed to his master on one knee.

"...a Jedi?" Darth Novus' already slanted eyes narrowed into slits.

"I believe so, master," Darth Praedus nodded. "And one of great power."

"...it is _him,_" Darth Novus hissed. "_Helion_, the one who escaped my master...he has returned to Corval, as I felt he would one day. His departure left something even I felt in my youthful ignorance."

"You believe the thief has shown himself at last?" Praedus glanced up, lifting his hood aside to reveal a Zabrak male with olive toned flesh...and gleaming yellow eyes.

"If it is Sedita Helion, you know what you must do," Darth Novus slowly placed his hood up. "Eliminate him, and retrieve my Holocron."

"What is so important about this single Holocron, if I may ask, Master Novus?" Vrena asked.

"It is not your place to question," To his credit, Novus did not speak with malice in his tone, but merely stated a fact. "I took a great risk allowing you to live, more so to let you study under my former apprentice. While my master lived he was...another force entirely."

The unnamed master of Darth Novus had been the latest of the Sith Lords to rule over the 'Brotherhood of the Sith'. He had been born a simple human, but had stumbled upon objects that now lay locked within his hidden tomb: copied holocrons. These Sith Holocrons had been created by a Sith of immense power over five thousand years ago named Darth Sol, otherwise named the Architect of the Sith. He had managed to somehow; defying odds recreate the Holocrons of many great Sith Lords before his death. He had also left many dangerous objects that were left unattended in the galaxy.

These Holocrons found by Novus' master were that of Darth Bane and Nihilus, who had taught the young Force Sensitive the ancient ways of the Dark Side as best they could with help from a Dark Jedi they managed to locate over the years of being carried by the Master. Finally, the Master joined the Brotherhood of the Sith a century ago.

The Sith had reorganized many times over by that point. Now the Order consisted of seven Sith Inquisitors ruled by a Dark Lord, and commanding legions of Sith Knights. It was declared to be the Sith Nation once the number of force users reached the thousands, and were accompanied by millions of non-force sensitive soldiers and worshippers. The Master approached them, bearing the lightsabers of four Jedi Masters, an unheard goal at that age. He had been barely twenty, but was made into a full Knight of the Sith Nation.

There, he pretended to remain content within the ranks of the heretic Sith who defied their ancient leaders. He became an Inquisitor, and from there slowly began to prepare for the fall of the Sith Nation. It was located on a planet in the Outer Rim, perfectly safe from invasion...but not from an attack on the inside.

The Master slew the Sith Lord, Darth Paragus, and framed three of the Inquisitors for it. This caused strife among their supporters, and soon revolution consumed the Sith Nation. Machines of war were unleashed, dark powers utilised to their full potential...and then the Master somehow managed to eliminate almost every last Sith Knight and inquisitor on the planet.

Some escaped, obviously, thanks to the help of their supporters, but the Master spent years hunting them down. He even had Darth Novus eliminate descendants of the Sith Nation, as though fuelled by some sort of personal grudge against the Sith Nation for merely existing.

Darth Novus' rise would abolish the very memory of the Rule of Two. Ever since the Master, somehow sustained by the Dark Side despite suffering many wounds during his reign as a Sith Lord died a decade ago Novus had destroyed many of the 'copy Holocrons'. He would not allow needless and unreasonable bloodshed to be committed against the Brotherhood of the Sith again.

Darth Praedus became his apprentice, as per the tradition before the Master died-by Novus' hand. Novus had stood over his master's death bed and fulfilled the tradition of the ancient Sith, his master fought as per the custom, but Darth Novus managed to overcome the Sith Lord. But what frightened Novus was that even while on his last limb, and barely alive...the Master nearly overpowered him. At that point Darth Novus had slain handfuls of Jedi while outnumbered, unlocked the powers of the Dark Side within him, and went as far to destroy a whole sanctuary of Jedi.

Yet one sickly, deformed, butchered and dying human on life support almost killed him. If Novus had died, somehow the Master would have held on and trained Praedus to do what Novus failed to do. Somehow the Sith Lord was dedicated enough to forestall natural death.

After he was left with the position of Dark Lord of the Sith Novus tore down all which his master had created and returned to the Sith Nation's husk of a planet. He explored alongside Praedus and unearthed old secrets. Together, they rebuilt the Sith Nation one block at a time.

But were there even a Holocron of the Master left intact, Novus would never sleep peacefully again. And Praedus, Vrena and the number of other Sith would lay dead by the command of the Master...and possibly by Novus' hand.

"I beg your forgiveness, master," Praedus uttered. "You are right; it is not my place to demand knowledge which I do not require to be gifted with."

"In the event that this is a Jedi," Darth Novus folded his hands behind his back. "You will destroy them and seek the Holocron. If it is not...there are still those in our brotherhood who are without apprentices of their own."

"I understand, master," Praedus, one knuckle pressed into the floor glanced up, his yellow eyes the only visible feature. "Your will shall be done."

Darth Novus disappeared, his image scattering into millions of tiny lights that retreated down into the projector. Picking the device up and pocketing it, Darth Praedus looked to his apprentice. "...we go on our hunt now, apprentice."

"Yes...master," Vrena slowly slid down onto her right knee, her right fist against the floor with her head bowed. "I will either show this Jedi his true path...or I will _break him._"

Xxx

The two colonists managed to reach Settlement 9 without much more trouble from the patrolling invaders. As they reached the gates they found bodies strewn across the road, mostly from the invaders. Several guards were posted behind barricades set up in front of the open gate of the walled settlement. Several more stood on the wall itself.

"Hold your fire!" One called down from the wall. "Civilians, hand over your weapons and you shall be allowed in!"

One of the guards by the barricades stood up. "Whoa, hold on there, what if they're more of those infiltrators dressed like the colonists?" This man was not some rookie panicking; he was too old and too experienced for that, only a few years younger than Rain herself. His hair was shaved down to a thin layer and he had a squared jaw. He had a treated blaster wound on his right arm and some scorch marks on other areas of his body armour.

"I know them Sergeant, that's Rain Tenebra and her kid," Another, younger soldier spoke up. "Ven was born in this very town and goes here for training, the Chief talks about it if you serve here long enough."

The Sergeant was probably part of the latest shift to be transferred to the settlement. He examined Rain and Venris before he nodded. "Alright, come on in. Sorry for the welcome, the last pair of colonists we let in turned out to be sleeper agents from the last batch of colonists. They tried to mess around with our only working artillery guns." He then jerked his head to two scorched bodies that had been dumped outside the gate. "You can see how we reacted to that."

"This settlement has artillery?" Rain sounded surprised.

"It's a very hush-hush thing," The Sergeant replied. "Colonists wouldn't be too comfy knowing we have an arsenal that could supply a small war spread out between every few settlements. We buy more than hunting rifles for colonists you know." He glanced at the rifle in Venris' hands. "Do you know how to use that?"

Venris nodded. "Pick a target, I can hit it. Plus, mom doesn't let me hold a knife for dinner unless I prove to her that I can use it without nicking myself with it."

The man nodded. "I'll take your word for it. The name's Huran, Huran Grimm, Colonial Security. Welcome back home." He led them inside.

"Sergeant, civilians are supposed to-" One of the guards began to speak.

"I'd rather have them keep it until they don't need it anymore," Grim cut him off. "Now, as you were Private."

The streets were lined with refugees from the countryside homes. Speeders were parked in alleys and in some cases used by soldiers to carry troopers and supplies around. The colony seemed a lot more prepared for an attack than one might give it credit for.

"Those soldiers were using dozens of tanks, how couldn't they get in here?" Venris asked, his gaze wandering over the dozens of different aliens stuffed into the settlement.

"They've been focusing on smaller places, and oddly they only landed in this region," Huran replied, stopping near the back of the established barricades guarded by the Mercenary Colonial Guards. "There aren't too many settlements under attack, but there have been deaths in the dozens here alone. Whatever these people want, they're acting like we're just in their way of something. Like they want to keep us away from where a bunch of their ships landed a few clicks north of here."

"They haven't tried demanding our surrender or something?" Rain inquired. "These aren't heavily armed slavers. They've killed too many already. And they wouldn't herd people into the settlements if they were after resources or supplies; this is where our harvest is stored and dispersed."

"Well, I had the same concerns, so I decided to talk to the chief," Grim then sat on the edge of a sort of tank with an artillery gun built into it. There were four of these in total. "Have a seat."

Venris sat down next to Grim, the tip of his rifle resting on the ground. Rain sat on the opposite side of her son and then addressed Grim. "I know Chief Bowun, can you get me in contact with her, or the Director?"

"Not at the moment," Grim shook his head. "They're focusing on trying to get the colonists into the security bunkers, the ones that aren't stuffed full already. Everybody here is waiting to be called for their turn. You two might only be here an hour or so. Until then you're my responsibility."

Before either Tenebra could reply, there was a shout from the barricades. "Sergeant! Tank incoming!"

"Aw damn!" Grim hopped off the tank ,grabbing a helmet and sliding it on with one hand while his other hefted his blaster rifle off of the ground. "Stay here, both of you, unless they get the tank started!" He jogged back to his squad at the gate.

One of the invaders' vehicles was stopped down the road. It was not one of their artillery vehicles, but had a sort of turret mounted on top. It was large and blockish, and had the Core emblem on its flanks. The back opened up, and several soldiers piled out and took up position.

"Team A, center flank with the turret!" Grim called. "Team B, lock on their right flank, take the reserve grenades! Team C, you pick off their left if they open fire!" The squadron moved into action.

"Venris, behind the tank!" Rain grabbed her son and pulled her behind the artillery tank while other refugees squeezed into alleys and moved to other streets to escape what might become a full blown battle for the settlement.

They knelt and watched the backs of the defending guards as they faced off with the now unseen attackers-their new height didn't give the pair a proper angle to see anything but Grim's armoured shoulders and helmet.

"We should get to one of the bunkers," Rain stated, taking Venris' hand again. "Come on-"

"Wait...no," Venris whispered, one hand on his head as he felt a surge, a sense of unease and fear building up within him and expanding. It was unfamiliar to him, his 'feeling' only ever instructed him, but this...felt like a warning.

"Venris, we have to go!" Rain insisted.

"Something is happening," Venris pulled his hand free and stood up.

"Venris!" Rain shouted, and threw herself into the open after her son.

Venris had walked out nine feet, three inches into the street by the time Rain caught up to him two point four seconds later-if you rounded to the nearest tenth millisecond. But before he had even gotten up, somebody else had climbed out of the APC that had set itself in the middle of the road leading out of the settlement.

The newcomer was shorter than Venris, and not nearly as built as the Core soldiers accompanying her-he judge it was female from the shape of its body. Her body was encased in black, though for a moment he could not discern any more details about her features. Then his vision cleared further and he began to take note of every feature as though he stood mere feet from her.

Everything below her neck was encased in a one piece suit that seemed so dark that she seemed like a moving mass of shadows at first. Her slender form was further covered in metallic plates of armour attached to her boots, thighs, groin area, chest area, biceps, and the gauntlets that covered her hands and forearms. They were all a lighter shade, closer to the gunmetal gray the adorned the Core Troopers and their vehicles.

A pitch black piece was fitted over her collar bone and a rubbery material was fed up her neck like a turtleneck from it. The armour and battle suit beneath it clashed with the blue skin of the Chiss female who wore it. She was lovely to look at, but her gaze was anything but attractive as it passed over the Colonial Soldiers...and paused on Venris just as his mother grabbed his hand.

His eyes met hers, amber to red.

The robes over her armour were like twisting clouds of smoke as she pushed aside the folds of it to reveal a single gleaming-and eerily familiar cylindrical device attached to her belt. She unclipped it with her left hand...and a blade of red light formed in her hand, held in a reverse grip. Then she held her right hand out to her side, and a matching cylinder flew out of her robe-coming from the left side and landed in her palm. A matching energy blade joined the first as she slid her left arm across her body, twisting so her left side was facing the barricade, protected by the blade in her left hand. She held her right blade back.

That was almost like a signal for the explosion that blew apart part of the wall near the gate.

"Mortars!" Grim called, beckoning his team back through the gates. "Back! Fall back inside!"

His team retreated through the gates as they shut, and the snipers of Team C climbed off the wall. Venris was cut off from view of the blade wielding Chiss girl.

Several Core troopers stormed through the breach in the wall, opening fire on the security forces. That was when Rain managed to tug him away from the battle and through the nearest alleyway.

Xxx

For those of you wondering what it looks like, picture the original rifle used by Clone Troopers, except with a scope built on the top of it.


	4. Chapter 4

Dark Future

Star Wars is property of Lucas Arts along with all of its species and planets and technology.

By the way, I will be using information on species and planets that I will be acquiring from different sources, and if you see that I have incorrectly stated or described something I insist that you point it out in the form of constructive criticism.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Xxx

_**Part 4**_

"Redirect our heavy guns on the second tank!" Sergeant Grim shouted, perched on the top of one of Settlement 9's four artillery tanks. "Third Squad move up and man the last barricade! We have to hold them!"

A dozen men and women of varying species charged from their hiding spots and slid or dove into cover behind the final line of the barricade established to repel the attacking soldiers pouring through the now opened gate. A team of Core Troopers managed to get up to the control house on the wall, slay the technicians and guards and open the gate for their main attack force. Two or three of the advancing security troopers managed to toss thermal detonators over into the path of a charging team of Core Troopers, blowing them apart. The street was consumed in a fire fight between the mercenaries and the Core Troopers.

"Set the cannon for line-of-sight targeting! Let's punch a hole through their armoured support!" Grim barked down through an open hatch to the three officers manning the tank.

The tank's gun suddenly lowered, reset so that instead of firing a heavy mortar it would fire heavy blaster bolts. The tank locked onto the APC that had burst in through the damaged wall as it assaulted fifth squad's position, forcing them back and picking off two of their number with the turret on its roof.

"Fire!"

The cannon's shot was so powerful it made the tank move back a few inches. It struck the armoured flank of the APC and punched through it. The APC exploded from inside, fire shooting out of every nook and cranny. Several Core Troopers spilled out, writhing in pain as they melted in their armour.

"Good shot!" Grim nodded, hopping off of the tank and joining Third squad and what was left of first squad in advancing down the street. "Keep them back! Get them back to the breach! I'll retake the wheel house and shut the gate manually! Corporal Horvan, hold the barricade until I have that gate shut!"

"Aye sir!"

Grim and three other troopers vaulted over the 5th line of the barricades as the single tank that Grim had managed to get operational and armed provided cover. They knelt behind the 4th line, which they had barely kept the Core Troopers from overtaking with overlapping suppression fire and grenade barrages.

"_Sergeant, hold position, the enemy commander is moving for Artillery-2,_" The driver of Artillery-4 stated, speaking through his communicator.

Grim glanced over the barricade using a fibre-optic cable built into his armour. The Chiss girl wielding the red blades of energy was striding across open ground to the parked tank, which the security forces had not been able to get up and running before they were pushed back by the Core Invaders.

"Take her down!" Grim shouted before he and his team opened fire, taking pot shots at the Chiss Commander.

She slid to a stop, and her lightsabers spun, catching any of the blaster bolts that would have hit her and deflecting them into the ground, a building, or the air. One struck the barricade a few inches from Grim, who called his team off. "Whoa! Whoa! Bad idea! Artillery-1, take her down!"

"_Rodger that, Artillery-4 moving to engage the enemy commander," _The Tank's gun adjusted after blowing away part of the 3rd line to push the enemy forces back towards the gate.

It fired at the Chiss girl, but she had already moved out of the way and stood on top of Artillery-2. She sliced the barrel of the cannon off of the inactive tank and then deactivated her left blade. Holding her left arm up, she flexed her four fingers, keeping her light sabre in her grasp with her thumb. The barrel of the cannon, not even done rolling off of the vehicle suddenly stopped before it hit the ground and rose up as if held by magic.

"Oh gods...a _Jedi,_" One guard whispered.

"Jedi don't do this you fool, that's a Dark Jedi!" Another snapped.

"Jedi, Dark Jedi, Lord of the Sith, I don't give a damn, she's slicing apart our vehicles-" Grim started, and then saw the barrel of the cannon shoot right at his team at breakneck speed. "Look out!"

The barrel shattered the barricade they were hiding behind, but luckily nobody was critically injured. One of the three guards was knocked out and attended to by the team medic Grim had wisely taken with him. The third guard provided cover fire alongside Grim while the medic began to drag the wounded man back with help from two other troopers who rushed from the 5th line to help.

"Get back to the 5th line Private," Grim instructed his last soldier. "I'll head for the Gatehouse myself, better chance if there are fewer of us anyhow!"

"Yes sir!" The guard crawled back to the 5th line and was helped over the barricade.

The Chiss girl, satisfied with her work in pushing back most of the defenders to their original line focused on an alley near the tank. Grim had noticed the Tenebras take that particular alley...

A few things clicked together in the soldier's head. The Chiss reacted when the Tenebra boy had stepped out into the open foolishly-Grim had glanced over his shoulder when he heard Rain shout, and would have stunned the boy to put him out of sight of any snipers if the wall hadn't been blown open first. She had signalled the attack immediately, and now she was heading for the specific escape route the boy and his mother had taken?

Was she after them? Was this just a coincidence? Was Grim over thinking things? That didn't matter; the Chiss was an enemy and had to die.

Xxx

Venris heard the battle from a shop that had been converted into a shelter by the owners and a trio of security guards who let them keep their rifles if they helped to guard the refugees hidden inside. He could feel every life extinguishing; every moment of pain experienced by the combatants...it was as though a little part of him was attached to them all.

It had started once the Chiss girl locked eyes with him. It was as though his 'feeling' was multiplied a thousand times over, making him take in more than ever before. Things seemed to be moving slower for him because of this, unbearably he might add. He placed one hand on his head, shutting his eyes as another headache assaulted him. He was sitting against a crate, breathing heavily, his rifle laying next to him.

"Physically he seems fine," One of the troopers, a medic explained to Rain. "It's not a panic attack, but we need to stop his hyperventilating."

"Venris, honey listen to me," Rain took one of Venris' hands. "I know you're scared right now but you have to be strong. So come on now, deep breaths, in...out...in...out...slowly Venris." She walked him through it.

"Not..." breath. "Afraid..." Venris whispered. "I...I can feel them all dying mom...the soldiers, the guards, all of them are dying and they won't stop screaming!" He placed both hands on his head.

"Damn it lady get your kid to pull himself together before he blows our hiding spot!" Another of the guards hissed from his perch on the roof a few feet above them.

"Wait, look!" The third trooper pointed, drawing their attention.

Rain was met with the sight of the Chiss girl marching towards them, both of her light sabres aglow and held in normal grips now. Her robes trailed behind her as she stared intently at the group gathered outside the refugee filled shop.

Four blaster rifles locked onto her, soon joined by Venris' fifth when the boy managed to get to his feet. He was aiming for right between the girl's ruby eyes. She was smiling instead of raising her guard for the inevitable salvo of blaster fire.

"I have no wish to bring further harm to this colony," She announced, speaking clearly. "Just surrender the Jedi who hides amongst you and I shall depart."

"Jedi?" The medic whispered, glancing back at the doors to the store.

"I'm not surprised you never noticed him," The girl nodded. "Jedi are often better at hiding themselves as of late, then again they always have been...passive, even when larger cities have burned for them. I know there is a Jedi among you...nothing with as much power as that is a fluke."

"Just...just wait a minute-" The trooper on the roof called to her.

The second trooper opened the doors with one hand and glanced inside. "...they're all registered colonists, been here for years. I don't see any Jedi here."

They were actually considering handing somebody over to this murderer?

"Well then, perhaps the Jedi will need some persuasion," The Chiss said coldly, her smile vanishing as she raised one hand.

Suddenly Venris felt a sense of weightlessness, and then his rifle was tugged from his hands. Then his throat constricted as though being compressed between a closing door and its frame. His hands flew to his throat, feeling untouched flesh that was being pressed down on by some force. Rain joined next to him, floating a few feet higher than him, and closer to the Chiss.

"Come out and face me, Jedi!" She called. "Or I will kill these two!"

"Set them down, now!" The marksman ordered, rifle aimed at her, only for Venris to be placed in their line of fire.

"First and last chance, Jedi! Reveal yourself!" The girl called. "I felt your presence from outside the settlement; you can't hide power like that for long!"

The edges of his vision became hazed, and black spots flashed in his view of the impatient Chiss who was strangling him with no hands. She truly was a Sith...or at least a Dark Jedi like how his mother ad described the Cathar who had assaulted the settlement nearly two decades ago. She was ruthless, and intent on finding a Jedi that he knew was not there. There had never been a Jedi to Settlement 9, much less Corval.

As he became more desperate for the sweet relief of oxygen, he felt a build of heat at his core that expanded and moulded to fit under his flesh. The 'feeling' that guided Venris shouted at him to unleash the power that was building. He resisted, frightened and unsure of what it would do.

But then his motivation came in the form of the Dark Jedi moving the feebly struggling Rain closer to her and holding one ruby red blade of light to her throat. "The woman dies first, Jedi! I warned you!"

She reared back for a decapitating strike. It would kill Rain quickly...but it would make Venris die slowly to see his mother murdered in cold blood.

The girl's arm moved in a blur of motion, but then slowed down to a near stop as she swung it down, angling it so it would slice through Rain's throat. The woman saw the blade approaching, but locked her eyes with Venris' as he stared in a state of petrified terror. One of the soldiers shouted something, and a weapon discharged, sounding like a gong behind Venris.

His hands came away from his throat, and he opened his mouth. "_NO!_"

Then the power flowed down his arms and into his hands, gathering in his fingertips and palms. It shot out all at once, and sent up a geyser of dirt that travelled along the ground, making a small ravine. When it reached the sidewalk and street shattered fragments of stone and durasteel went flying like shrapnel.

Within a second and a half it reached the stunned Chiss girl, who went flying back as a wall of telekinetic force slammed into her. She landed in a heap, and Rain was dropped from the invisible hand the girl had manifested to hold her by the neck. She fell to her knees, breathing in precious oxygen and massaging her neck with both hands.

The blaster shot that had been fired by the Medic had missed the Chiss because of whatever Venris had done.

Venris landed on the ground, staying on his feet, a rush of energy rejuvenating his muscles and empowering his physical performance. He felt light as a feather yet stronger than a wookie! Multiple stones and clumps of dirt were beginning to rise off of the ground as the Chiss tried climbing to her feet. She looked up as she managed to finally climb up from her knees. "You...a boy? But you...you're not a Jedi at all!"

"I don't care, stay away from my mother!" Venris snarled, positioning himself between his mother and the Chiss. "Stay away or I'll do it again!" He truly believed he could attack her again, but she would not be off guard this time.

The Chiss examined him, obviously unconvinced that he could willingly perform this multiple times. "You lie, boy; you are not trained in the ways of the Force...yet so powerful."

So that was it then...the Force was what guided Venris every time. It would help him to focus on a task, to achieve near perfect marksmanship...and to defend his mother from the blade of the Chiss girl. It flowed through him like a river now, flaring and raging to be released.

"I offer you this ultimatum," The girl lowered her lightsabers and deactivated them. "I will take my soldiers and leave this...rather pathetic colony alone. In return," She raised her right hand, three fingers and her thumb curled around the hilt of the inactive weapon. Pointing right at Venris, she sounded eager, as though she found a fortune. "_You_ will accompany me, without a struggle or intent to escape!"

It did not even take a moment of consideration for the soldiers to make their individual choices. The Medic snarled that she was in no position to demand hostages; the sharpshooter seemed uncertain, his rifle lowered and his expression hidden under his helmet's rectangular visor. The infantryman instantly agreed and shouted at Venris to go over to her.

"No! No, don't!" Rain cried, rising to her feet.

"Come with me," The Chiss said, raising her right hand out as though offering the hand of friendship. She even placed her lightsabre back in her belt for it.

"No Venris, don't do it!"

"Venris...a suitable name," Venris could almost see his reflection in the girl's eyes as she got closer to him, tracked by the Medc's rifle. "Come with me...I'll show you the path of the Sith. You will become a warrior whose name will be worshipped in the ages to come!"

"Venris please don't listen to her!" Rain begged, near tears.

"Make your choice now," The Chiss girl almost purred as she cast her red eyes in Rain's direction again. "You are no master of the Force; you could not stop me from ending the lives of these pathetic colonists...but merely forestall their fates."

Venris glanced at the windows of the shop. He saw frightened, pale faces of men, women and children inside, unable to hear through the sealed doors and windows of the store. He could hear his mother's pleas for him to not cooperate, that she loved him and couldn't lose him. He heard the infantryman bark at him again and again, storming over to him as if to throw him to the girl.

Inhaling, Venris opened his mouth to speak, and the words died in his mouth. Before he could properly form a sentence, somebody else did.

"Maybe he can't stop you, but let's see if I'd have any better luck!"

Then multiple blaster bolts were shot at the Chiss from several angles. She dropped down, right leg under her, her left leg outstretched to her side. Both lightsabers flashed to life, the second one flying into her open palm, and she began to deflect multiple bolts while Rain and the three troopers joined in.

Venris had thrown himself to the ground and lay on his stomach, hands on his head.

Sergeant Grim and three other security troopers came out into the open, rifles flashing. The Chiss girl moved impossibly fast, her limbs impossible to identify in their constant motion while the lightsabers twisted in her grips almost endlessly. When a blaster bolt struck the blade of one of her lightsabers, it would bounce off and hit the ground or go into the air and fade. One struck one of the troopers in the shoulder and spun her around with a cry of pain as she fell.

"Damn it, this won't work!" Grim frowned under his helmet, taking a Thermal Detonator from his belt and lobbing it at the Chiss, who flicked one hand and sent it sailing back at the soldier. "Oh dammit, everybody take cover!"

He tossed himself out of the thermal detonator's path and rolled on the ground as his other two soldiers moved away. The device turned into a blinding flash of light and vaporised anything within a few feet, which were luckily insects and plants.

"Fools," The Chiss hissed.

Opening one palm, she knocked Rain and the other three troopers on their backs and then stormed towards Grim and his stunned team. She stood over the Sergeant as he grabbed his rifle. With a move of her foot she force-pushed it away and then applied the same Force powered pressure in a vicious kick to his chin that knocked his helmet off and turned him onto his back.

"Pathetic mercenary," The Sith brought back her left handed sabre for the killing blow. Grim reached for his pistol, but it never cleared the holster.

Suddenly the weapon was tugged out of her grasp and flew through the air. It deactivated once it left her grip, spinning end over end. Venris had both hands outstretched to catch it, but fumbled and had to catch it before it hit the ground at his feet. He held the lightsabre uncertainly, his hands shaking as he turned the cylinder over, not certain how to even begin to use it.

The Sith chuckled, amused by Venris' actions. "Impressive for an untrained farm boy like yourself. But you do not hold it with the hand of a swordsman."

She reared her other arm back. "Let me show you something my master made me learn the hard way: by dodging it!" She then flung her lightsabre through the air. It spun, guided by the Force and heading for Venris' hands. It would not matter if she had to lob off an appendage, so long as he was alive when she presented him to her master.

But like any force user, Venris could feel the Force unfold before him, giving him the briefest of glimpses into an infinite amount of scenarios concerning how the following two seconds would play out. He activated the lightsabre, the hilt amazingly weightless and cold in his hands. He brought it up, angling it as best he could. He had pretend-sword-fights with his friends before, and the stun batons used in the training courses he took could be counted somewhat, but the Force was the only thing keeping him from slicing off his own hands.

KSSHHHHH! CRACK!

Sparks flew as the two blades struck one another. The force of the impact staggered Venris, making him drop his guard while the lightsabre flew back to the Sith girl's hand. She frowned. "You're more in touch than I thought...you already have a measure of reflexes and control."

The credit for that went to the paramilitary style training he had been taking for years. He could enlist as a soldier and make a very decent rifleman, given the chance...and if he was ever interested in being an expendable infantryman or security guard on some ship. Mercenaries had low life expectancies unless they took on legitimate jobs like the Colonial Guards.

The Force also helped a lot, as it had ever since he can remember as a child.

If he had the Force...could he be...a Jedi? He was using a lightsabre, but Jedi were portrayed with green or blue blades, sometimes even purple; red was always used by the Sith, by the evildoers. He wasn't Anakin Skywalker or Revan like in the history logs, or any other highly trained Jedi or Sith; he was just some kid barely holding onto a lightsabre properly. Trying to bring the blade up properly, Venris grasped the blade in both hands and pointed it at the Sith.

Amused, the girl held up one hand, and the weapon was wrenched from his hands with hardly any effort on her part. Then she flew forward to make a crippling blow and finally capture the boy.

TSEW! TSEW!

One of the troopers had managed to get his pistol out and fired from his prone position on the ground. One shot flew in between the two, the other was so close it burnt the Sith girl's nose. She hissed and backed up a step while Venris scrambled backwards, away from her.

Uncurling all but her index finger and thumb from her right lightsabre, she force-lifted the man up, making him drop the pistol and grasp his neck in response to an added force-choke; she began to clench her fingers back into a fist, slowly crushing the life out of the soldier.

With her left hand she flicked her free blade and deflected two shots from Grim and another soldier. The man in her grasp went limp, her neck snapped by the power of the force grip. She heard Grim cry out. "_No!_" And saw him rushing her; a suicide tactic in the face of a Sith.

She raised her blade to strike-

And it was pulled from her grasp again.

Venris caught it. He had slowly grasped how to make use of his power, though it was a far cry from the control the Chiss possessed. It would be like comparing a sledgehammer smashing bones and squishing organs to a knife slipping between a set of ribs to pierce the heart of its target. For now it was a simple matter of 'lather, rinse, repeat' when it came to him calling upon and manipulating the Force to do the most basic of things.

The boy couldn't help but smile. "...I'm starting to get used to that!"

"You-!" The Chiss girl tried to bring her other blade to bear on Grim, who slammed one fist into her wrist and made her release the hilt, which clattered to the sidewalk as Grim followed up by pulling a small cylinder out of his belt and flicking it, making it extend into a foot long baton that crackled with energy.

She held up one hand and literally caught the stun baton in her hand. For any normal person it would have knocked them out, but the Chiss was using an old and risky tactic to absorb the energy from the baton into her, and raised her other hand as she aimed it at Venris.

The Force was open wide to the boy now; his powers were manifesting to ensure his survival, like an animal adapting to a new environment with instinct rather than intention ruling its actions. And what she had seen so far was merely the tip of the iceberg; he was already getting the hang of basic Force manipulation such as 'push or pull'; despite his amateur style he would grow quickly...he had to be destroyed.

Force Lightning shot out of her hands, perfectly aimed.

It was powerful enough to fry a man to a charred crisp or destroy a small ship. She had spent years in the tutelage of her master repeatedly practicing until she was able to slay entire squadrons with it. The boy would be helpless to stop it even with one of her lightsabers.

But he never felt the sting of her lightning...a woman leaped in the way, crying out the boy's name. It was his mother, the one she had threatened not a minute ago! It struck the woman between the shoulders as she took the hit for her son, who looked on in a terrified silence as his mother crumpled in front of him. Even Vrena was momentarily stunned by what Rain had done...

But what followed next petrified her completely, literally. She felt every joint in her body stiffen, and could barely even expand her lungs to breathe. It was like she had become encased in earth. And the source of it was easy to see when Venris stepped forward, surrounded by crackling energy that formed around his whole body, glowing blue against the red glare of the lightsabre he held.

Two words came to mind when Vrena recognised this state. It was a technique used by Dark Jedi and Sith, though not as much by the current order due to the risks it posed to less experienced students and warriors.

Force Rage.

With a snarl, Venris reared one fist back and swung it forward like a punch. A wave of force slammed into Vrena while she was held in place. Blood spurted from her mouth and nose, tears of pain welling in her eyes as the bonds holding her vanished and she collapsed. The breath had been knocked out of her, and she was certain that several ribs had been broken.

Venris was advancing on her, one hand raised, clenched into a fist and ready to destroy her.

"V...ven..."

He stopped, the blue glow fading as he turned. "Mother!"

He rushed back to Rain, kneeling and gently lifting her, cradling her to his chest as the soldiers surrounded Vrena. Rain was moving in and out of consciousness, murmuring Venris' name. The boy looked towards Grim. "Sergeant, are any of the colony's doctors here!"

"We have a couple from the clinic inside," Grim nodded. "Bax, go get them."

One of Grim's five remaining soldiers hesitantly backed up to the shelter and opened the door. He exchanged words with the colonists and then looked back to the squad. "Sir! They refuse to assist!"

"Damn it we have a woman who's dying here!" Grim snarled. "Drag them out here if you have to!"

"We won't help her!" A voice called from inside. "Take her and her Jedi son away from here!"

Venris turned, shaking with fury as he started towards the shelter. Grim got in his way and placed a hand on each shoulder. "Listen to me kid, this won't save her. Let's get her to the clinic; the medical droids there should still be operating."

"Are you kidding me? It's halfway across the colony!" Venris shouted. "We'll never get her there in time!"

"Our medic can keep her stabilized until we get there," Grim assured the young man. "But we need a safe way to transport her there."

"Sir," One of the troopers spoke up. "On our way here I saw a speeder that looked intact, parked in Ok'kah's repair shop. I didn't speak up since we were in a rush and a speeder without a turret isn't good for a fire fight."

"Good thinking Kav," Grim nodded. "Alright, Bax and two others will stay behind and protect the civilians. I'll go retrieve the speeder."

"What do we do about the prisoner, sir?" The one known as Kav, his voice filtered by the helmet he wore asked as he nudged the crippled Vrena with the tip of his rifle.

"Get something to hold her," Grim decided. "And take any equipment she has on her. I'd bet she's one of the field commanders for this invasion, we can use her as a shield."

"I want to go with you," Venris said as he grabbed his fallen rifle in one hand, unconsciously stuffing the deactivated lightsabre into the pocket of his trousers.

"Look kid, Jedi or not you're a civilian and you're staying here," Grim replied. "Your mother will need you to keep her safe. My team will get the speeder. If any moresoldiers show up looking for trouble wouldn't you rather have a Jedi helping her?"

At this Venris had no choice but to accept the Sergeant's wisdom, even though Venris was not a Jedi, nor a Sith...or really of any alignment. He had basically learned on instinct how to push and pull objects, and to enter that state of increased power that allowed him to disable the Chiss girl. He felt the lightsabre that rested in his pocket with one hand and nodded. "Alright...but don't be too long."

"Don't worry kid, Rain's been one of us since forever, and have you," Grim nodded. "We don't abandon our people...at least any of us with common decency don't." He glared at the shelter while raising his voice and then looked to two soldiers. "Benna, Kalan, with me, to the repair shop!"

The three soldiers took several moments to gather supplies before they left. The other three soldiers assisted Venris in tying the Chiss girl's hands and feet together and leaving her in front of the shelter under guard.

Venris knelt by his mother, who he had moved into the alley between the shelter and the next structure over. The medic had given her a quick look before going back to guard duty, but promised to come back every ten minutes to make sure she was alright. Thus far she was unresponsive.

Her hair and clothes were singed in some places, smoke still rising off of her form. She was mumbling and shifting, passing between the waking world and blissful sleep without sign of an end to the cycle.

Venris took her hand. "Hold on mother...hold on..." He felt tears brimming in his eyes as he held his mother close.

Xxx

End of Chapter


	5. Chapter 5

Dark Future

Star Wars is property of Lucas Arts along with all of its species and planets and technology.

By the way, I will be using information on species and planets that I will be acquiring from different sources, and if you see that I have incorrectly stated or described something I insist that you point it out in the form of constructive criticism.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Xxx

_**Part 5**_

"Sir, High Lord-3 spotted your apprentice," one of the dozen men sent with Praedus spoke over the rado link the squad shared with the Sith Lord. "She's been captured sir...there's a Jedi in the settlement."

Praedus stood in a dimly lit room made of stone. Several soldiers were setting up lights on the walls to illuminate the tall door he stood in front of. The man slowly turned, his golden eyes staring through the soldier reporting to him. "Sedite Helion?"

"Negative sir...it's a kid." The soldier said. "And HL3 also said he was pretty much throwing everything he could around using the Force. It's too destructive to match the usual pattern of training." Most of the separate Jedi Factions could be identified through how their operatives were trained. The primary faction, led by the original Jedi Order stuck to their traditional methods of training. Some factions balanced aggression with their training for a more vicious fighting style while others continuously mixed the use of kinetic force of a Force Push with their swings and jabs, allowing them to clear multiple enemies at once.

"So there is no training at all then," Praedus concluded. "At times force sensitives have been known to manifest their abilities under...extreme amounts of stress."

"Sir...you should see this before you say that," The soldier handed Praedus a small holographic image imprinted onto a thin projector device. It showed a bird's eye view of the supposed Jedi...a figure covered from head to toe by blue light, energy crackling all about him.

"Force Fury...that is not some trick that can be randomly picked up," Praedus muttered, mostly to himself. "...we will remain on task. Open these doors."

"Yes sir...shall we send for a rescue team to retrieve your apprentice?"

"...yes, contact our fleet and tell them to send down Raeda," Praedus started before one of the sentries he left on the surface rushed down the steps, sliding a bit on the piles of rubble until he was rushing towards them.

"Sir! Sir! The fleet's reported unknown contacts approaching!" The soldier said. "Too large to be merchant vessels and they're registering weapon signatures on all of them."

"...Cadians..." Praedus' eyes narrowed. "Begin withdrawing our infantry and prepare to move the target out of here. We're short on time."

"Estimated arrival is seventeen minutes sir," The soldier added.

"Well that means that we have no time to be subtle then!" Praedus turned, pushing aside his cloak and raised both hands. The whole room shook as the stone doors slowly began to part. The soldiers all formed up-knowing that locations that their master visited such as this would be bound to have some form of guard, be it an old sentry droid...or a hundred like a previous encounter, or traps. They remained calm and professional, rifles raised and evenly spread out.

"I...will not be...denied." Praedus ground out as he forced the doors to yield.

Xxx

"Alright, keep your eyes peeled," Grim instructed as he, Benna and Kalan crept along the abandoned streets of Colony 9. "There are more soldiers out there."

The three stepped over the bodies of colonists and fellow security officers they had served with for years. Mercenaries or not, they were all decent people who had chosen to use their skills for something good. Grim did not see any of the senior officers among the dead so far, but he counted nearly a third of the security force at Colony 9 dead.

Grim paused as his radio buzzed. He tapped it once, and found multiple hushed voices. "This is Sergeant Grim, C9S, acknowledge."

"Sir, Squad 4 here!" An eager voice replied. "We're getting chatter in from Colony 3, they're sending it out to all colonies under attack. We can't transfer it to you right now, all but the short wave radios are down and we're barely getting it ourselves. Ships are approaching sir, different from the fleet in orbit."

"Well that's a lucky break," Grim managed to smile a bit. "Alright, I want all squads to form up near the Clinic. I'll be bringing in wounded in a while and I want the clinic to be secure."

"A few survivors from a bunch of squads regrouped there earlier sir, it should be secure already."

"I expect it to be by the time I get there too," Grim replied. "Grim out."

"Sir," Kalan tapped his left shoulder. "Two stories up, eleven oh clock."

Grim followed her direction and saw them on the roof of one of the business structures reserved as a shop. Four of them, all exchanging fire with unseen security officers on the far side of the building.

"Thermal Detonators," Grim instructed, breaking into a jog. "The garage is on the far side of that building, we have to get past them!"

All three soldiers took out a Thermal Detonator, slinging their rifles over their shoulders as they stopped in the west alley lining the building where the four invaders were positioned.

"Three, two, now!" Grim barked, tossing his Detonator up and over the edge of the roof, his two soldiers mimicking his action. They heard a shout before three explosions rang out one after the other, barely a split second apart.

"Far street, now!" Grim took up his rifle again and led his team out to the street where two Colonial Guards were crouched behind several speeders moved to act as a makeshift barricade. They lowered their guns as they saw the trio. The speeder barricade was filled with blaster holes, and the body of a third guard lay nearby.

"Good timing!" One of them said cheerfully.

"Soldier, report: Is there anybody inside?" Grim asked.

"Negative sir, we holed up here after our squad went down at the gates," The second soldier shook her head.

"Are there any functioning speeders?"

"A couple inside," The first soldier nodded. "It's yours if you need it."

"You're coming with us," Grim said. "We have civilians who need protection and transport. Ranks are rather stretched thin today and I need every hand I can get my hands on."

Hesitantly, the two soldiers accepted his orders and opened the garage doors. Grim chose the better of the two speeders stored inside and got into the driver's seat. Kalan got into the back seat, her rifle barrel resting on the edge of the open roofed speeder's doors. Benna and the other two guards climbed into the second speeder, and they gently guided the vehicles out of the garage.

The drive back to the civilian shelter was thankfully uneventful. The invading soldiers seemed to be retreating according to the reports of scattered Colonial Guard groups all over the colony. By the time they reached the shelter another team of guards had arrived with their own charges.

"Sir!" The Corporal in charge of the newcomers waved as the speeders pulled up. "We're about to head to the Clinic on foot wth anybody who doesn't need the Speeder."

"Good luck to you Corporal," Grim nodded. "Get Rain Tenebra loaded into the first speeder. Her son rides with us too."

"Why are you taking those two along?" One of the colonists demanded. "They're the whole reason why we're being invaded!"

"I always knew that woman opened her legs to that Jedi," Another, more elder man growled. "Now because of her our homes are gone!"

Grim fired his blaster into the air twice. "Enough of that now! If there are any more wounded, we will try to take as many as we can, but we don't have enough room for everybody."

The colonists maintained a fair distance, but Grim saw several venomous eyes locked onto Rain and Venris-who was helping to carry his mother towards the Speeder.

"We still have the Dark Jedi tied up sir, and kept under so she doesn't break free," The soldier that Grim had left in charge of the civilians stated. "What should we do with her?"

"We'll take her with us so we can-"

A scream came from the back of the alley where the Chiss grl was being held. Two soldiers had been sent to grab her so they could carry her out, but one of them was nursing a deep cut on his forearm while the other was on the ground-whatever the wound was, Grim could not see it. The Chiss was on her feet, and already the rope fell from her wrists and ankles in pieces.

"Take her down!" Grim shouted, firing his rifle at her and joined by four or five other soldiers.

His first shot missed, the Chiss had somehow pivoted so that instead of hitting her heart it flew right past her. She raised her hand as the other soldiers began to lock on, and a cylinder shot past them. It was one of the lightsabers Venris had kept! She had pulled one from the pocket of his jacket, not willing to risk wasting precious half seconds to grab the second and move it to her other hand. The red blade hissed to life, and she sent multiple blaster bolts into the walls or ground, deflecting each of them with speed that should not have been physically possible.

Venris knew she would go for her other blade, and quickly shot his own hand out when he felt it fly out of his pocket. The lightsabre hilt stopped in mid air, held by two competing forces. The Chiss glared at Venris, knowing he was responsible, and abandoned trying to take the weapon back when Grim lobbed a Thermal Detonator her way. She back flipped into the air and landed on the wall that separated the alley from the district that was beyond. She locked eyes with Venris, who was returning her look with equal intensity.

He humiliated and captured her, she nearly killed his mother. They both had a bone to pick with one another.

Then she was gone, fleeing towards where an enemy transport could be seen landing before the wall kept them from seeing more.

"We don't have time to waste," Grim lowered his rifle. "Let her go, we have to get to that clinic." He watched as Venris brought the lightsabre hilt back to his hand and examined it. "Keep ahold of that thing, kid."

"Just get my mother to the clinic," Venris replied, slipping the lightsabre into a part of his belt where it would fit. Somehow it felt right to put it there...

Like it was more at home than he was in Colony 9.

Xxx

"Two minutes to firing range, where the hell is Praedus?" A man stood on the command deck of the Core Cruiser in orbit over Corval. He was not as big as Praedus, but had a head's height over Vrana. He wore a hood and a mask similar to what most of the Core Troopers and crew wore: a T shaped visor of gold against a dark helmet that was dark brown. He wore similar armour under the black robes.

"Sir, Lord Praedus' shuttle is on final approach with most of our landing craft," A Lieutenant reported. "But a lot of our troops are still pulling out."

"Forget them, we have to leave immediately," The man replied. "As soon as Praedus is aboard, set in a course and get us out of the gravity well-"

"Uh...sir? Those ships...they're a lot closer now," A sensor operator said nervously before two shapes appeared near the Core Fleet. "Confirmed, two ships at the edge of the gravity well. I don't know how they did that sir, the ETA had them at well over a hundred seconds away."

"They tricked us," The man growled. "They came in slow, masking their precise model so we would think it was a slower relief fleet. And when we brought all our troops back aboard they resumed normal speed."

"Sir, one of the ships is a Carrier, and it's launching fighters!"

"Negative on those fighters, zero life signs!"

"Drones," The man sighed. "Alright we resume with our plan. Bring our defence grid on line and bring the fleet away from Corval. We'll blast our way past those ships f we have to. What is the second one?"

"Frigate escort class, appears to be...marine transport based off of what data I have on this model sir."

"It will head for the surface to eliminate what is left of our invasion force then," Praedus said as he stepped onto the bridge, accompanied by Vrana and his personal guards. "Target the carrier, have our escorts pull away and head around."

"Aye sir, escorts breaking off."

"Main batteries on line!"

"Sir...huge power surge detected from the enemy carrier," An officer glanced at the three commanders. "From their auxiliary power lines."

"Why would they gather auxiliary power?" Vrana asked.

"It's moving to three points on their bow sir."

"What primary systems are located on the bow?"

"Based on previous data...forward artillery."

"They intend to take us head on then," Praedus concluded.

"There's more sir ,take a look at the enemy ship." An officer brought a visual of the enemy bow up. There were three large rotary guns that slid up out of the bow of the ship. The ends were wide enough to fly a fighter through. Three beams of light appeared at the circumference of each cannon and connected at the center.

Praedus' eyes widened. "By the force...begin evasive manoeuvres now."

"But our shields are-"

"NOW!" The Sith Lord drew his lightsabre and held it to the throat of the helmsman. "I will not say it again, evade!"

The Cruiser began to tilt away from the firing line. Then the three cannons fired all at once; bright beams of light shot across the distance between the two ships in a blink of an eye. They all struck the shields of the ship in one area towards the bow. After several seconds the shields gave out and the beams carved deep into the hull.

On the command deck, everybody felt the ship shake as alarms rang out.

"Hull breach in aft sections of Decks 8 and 9! We've sealed them off but if those cannons hit the command deck we would have been goners."

"Shields are down, repair teams are bringing them back on line."

"Sir, enemy ship is pulling away with drones providing cover. They aren't making an effort to attack and they have the bare minimum required to operate their primary systems."

"Of course, that old fool Kine brought the _Pride_," Praedus mused.

"Master?" Vrana looked up at the Sith Lord.

"That, my child is an experimental weapon they used. We won't have to see much of it in this life time. And as you can see it has left the enemy ship relying on the emergency power they gathered until they can collect enough to fire their main batteries again." Praedus said. "To power not just one but _three_ weapons that powerful, that ship would require several secondary sources of energy and a way to replenish them. It would be a colossal waste of credits to try and build a fleet of these at the time being, until a more practical construction method can be found."

"And how do you know this?" The masked man demanded.

"...because I fought the damn thing before, and I know who commands it," Praedus sat in his chair. "They will require two minutes to collect enough energy for another shot, and even then that second shot would be weaker than the first unless they wait longer. Deactivate the safety protocol on our hyper drive and get us out of here before they recharge. Without our shields even a weakened shot from those cannons would gut us."

As the crew got to work, Vrana approached her master and set herself on her knees next to his chair. "That vessel is designed as an Anti-Capital Ship model?"

"Yes my apprentice...and if it were assured to never face more than one or two larger vessels it would be one of the greatest inventions in the galaxy. But next time around I will not give them a chance to use their precious experiment on us," Praedus said. "The only reason they managed to use it right now was...my overconfidence. I assumed that they would never place those cannons on a ship that small for another century. I can see that I was wrong..."

"Sir, safety protocols are disabled, we are ready to jump to hyperspace."

"Do it," Praedus nodded. "And as for you my apprentice...we have much to talk about." He looked down at her. "Tell me about this boy you found...tell me about his power."

The Core Cruiser, having bypassed the regular safety programs made to prevent a hyperspace jump from within a gravity well vanished in a streak of light. The Cadian vessel slowly retracted the 'experimental' cannons that it had employed against the Core Cruiser and slowed to a geosynchronous orbit over the region where the Core army was invading.

Then it proceeded to launch smaller ships. They were all angular and with more curved features rather than sharp or bulky components. Their hulls were dark gray, and they were essentially in the shape of a cone that tapered down into a near triangular prism shape, the top of which was a lighter colour than the darker hull and had slots in between them that the pilots only opened once their ships were faced towards the planet surface and away from the blinding sun. The hull separated into four segments two thirds of the way towards the back, each of them tipped with an engine. There were fin shaped components protruding from the space between the two upper and two lower extensions that formed 'wings' for the ship, each carrying blaster cannons on the tips while a third chin mounted cannon rested at the front of the ship.

Every part of the ships seemed to slope or curve, making them look oddly artistic for military vessels. But within these ships were ranks of warriors, each of them taller than any man and clad in armour and visors, carrying large rifles and blades. But in the lead ship, a single solitary figure sat behind the two pilots in the cockpit, arms crossed as he stared at Corval. Instead of heavy infantry armour, he wore what seemed to be robes mixed with some armour components to protect vital areas. He had a small arsenal of weapons, the most visible of which was what looked like a lightsabre hilt that was three times the length of the one that currently resided in the hands of Venris Tenebra. Another weapon was hidden under the right sleeve of the robe, which was pushed down to hide it after the figure was done examining it.

The third weapon hung on its back, hidden by most of its bulk if you looked at it from the front. It was a sword with a blade that curved rather oddly, first angling up only to curve forward ever so slightly and then back up again near the tip of the blade. It was encased in a solid black sheathe that allowed one to see the general outline of it.

The final weapon was held in its palm. A simple pole about a foot long, and thicker than the lightsabre hilt. It extended all of a sudden until it was nearly as long as he was tall-were he standing up that is. Then slowly, four parts extended out of the pole near both tips. At first they were thin, but then more strips of metal curved out until they formed four scythe blades, two near each end. Satisfied, he retracted the blades into the pole and reduced it to its carrying size, sliding it into his belt next to the lightsabre hilt.

(Ok, I do a bad job at descriptions. Picture that last weapon like the Combi Stick used by Predators of the Dark Blade clan, meaning it has little scythe blade shapes at each end of the stick)

"Time to landing?"

"Several minutes, sir," One of the pilots replied. "We detect minimal Core activity on the surface."

"What of the colonies?"

"It seems that the Core invasion was mostly restricted to four colony towns in the local region. And we are receiving massive amounts of short wave communication messages from all of them."

"So they received our coded transmission then."

"And the Core scum did not, sir."

"Good, bring us down near the-" The robed figure paused.

"...sir?"

"...list the colonies to me and give me a geographical image of them all."

"...yes sir," The co-pilot pulled up a screen to the side of the cockpit, and showed the region of the Core invasion, highlighting all four colonies. "Colony Towns 4, 7, 9, and 15 were the ones attacked sir."

"...take us here," He tapped colony 9. "Something is there...something...familiar."

"And what of the other drop ships, sir?"

"Spread them amongst the rest, and eliminate any Core soldiers you find...no prisoners."

"It shall be done, sir."

Slowly the figure stood up into the light of the screens. He was a furred being, covered from head to toe by black glossy fur, and on the top of his head were two ears that were sticking straight up as his brown eyes narrowed, focusing on the screen. His face was more elongated than a human face, forming a muzzle. The right half of it was covered in a mess of scar tissue and clumps of fur. Parts of his teeth were revealed through flesh that was too damaged.

(For all of you trying to picture it...this alien is essentially a Doberman Pincher standing like a human)

"Is that you, Sedita?" He whispered. "After all this time...you're here of all places?"

Xxx

The speeder slowed to a stop outside of the Clinic, where a crowd of colonists was watched over by several teams of Colonial Guards. There was apparently an overflow of wounded, with the more seriously injured prioritized above people with minor injuries. Grim had taken care to make sure that nobody would speak of what had happened at the shelter to the medical personnel until after Rain was treated. His real concern was what would happen if and when the knowledge became public and the director would no doubt have Rain and Venris banished from the colony...perhaps the only safe place in the galaxy for them and the only home they even knew.

"Come on, lift," He instructed before he, Venris, Kalan and another soldier lifted Rain out of the speeder on a stretcher. "Get her inside, let's hurry up before the other group from the shelter shows up and starts blabbing."

"If they try to throw my mother out to die, I _will_ stop them," Venris said. "I don't care if you arrest me for something Grim, I won't let them toss her away just for being my mother."

"And I won't let them toss her out either," Grim promised. "Just relax and I'll handle it if it comes to that."

"Sergeant, we have ships landing outside the compound!" A man called-Venris did not see where from.

"I'll deal with it in a minute, blast it!" Grim snapped. "Are they the relief force?"

"I think so sir!"

"Then no worries!"

They managed to find a doctor who voluntarily led them to a room where they could begin to treat Rain for her burns. After handing her off, Venris was forced to step out of the room despite how much he wished to stay. He gradually accepted and stepped back out into the hall way while several nursing droids gathered around his mother. The few surviving doctors managed to get the clinic back up and running once it was safe to return, thankfully, but it still left the clinic understaffed.

Venris sat down and then took a look at his attire and condition. This morning he hadn't been covered in dirt and blood, he hadn't had a rifle strapped to his back and a lightsabre in his belt. He could hardly believe that the past twelve hours had really occurred because of the greatest change...

He hadn't been a Jedi this morning.

"Tenebra! Hey I'm talking to you!"

Venris looked up, startled by the aggressive voice. It was one of the farmers who lived near the Tenebra residence, a man who had always smiled and laughed whenever Venris saw him. Now he and the men behind him wore looks that would have done worse to him than what had been done to his mother if looks could cause harm.

"I hope you're happy, _Jedi,_" The man, Thane Gana said. "People died all for _you_ today_._"

"I didn't cause this to happen," Venris replied, clenching his hands into fists and getting to his feet so that he stood toe to toe with the farmer. "And I'm not a _Jedi!_"

"We saw what you did, and we know those were Core soldiers," Another of Gana's small group called out. "They were after you, that's the only reason why they would come here! And now your whore of a mother is taking up a bed that could be used for an actual member of this colony."

"I was born here you hypocrite!" Venris snarled. "I've lived here for my entire life, you know who I am. I'm not a Jedi!"

"Perhaps you are, perhaps you're not," Gana huffed. "But we know that our home is in ruins and hundreds are dead, all because you never gave yourself up!" He shoved Venris. "Get that whore out of there, she doesn't deserve any hospitality from us after what she's done by laying with the Jedi!"

"The Jedi?" Venris momentarily forgot his anger towards Gana for insulting his mother ,but regained it when Gana stormed towards the door that Rain was being treated behind. Venris didn't know how he did it without fumbling or hesitating, but suddenly the lightsabre was in his hand, and a red blade separated Gana from the door, threatening to slice into his neck as Venris glared darkly at the farmer.

"Stay away from my mother," He growled. "_Pig!_"

Gana and his group backed off, as did the multitude of bystanders.

"Brea kit up, all of you!" Grim called as he and his soldiers broke into the middle of the argument, guns drawn. "Venris, put it away, now!"

Venris deactivated the lightsabre, but when one soldier moved to take it from him he held it up in a threatening motion. "I'm keeping this, since apparently I can't rely on my own neighbours to stand by me or give my mother some mercy."

"Venris, I am going to keep your mother safe," Grim said. "But I can't do that if everybody here is carrying guns and swords. Please, hand over the weapon."

"Do you think that'll stop him?" Gana demanded. "You saw what he's capable of! He's a bloody monster!"

"You shut your mouth!" Grim growled at Gana, towering over the farmer menacingly, making him cower in the shadow of the Sergeant. "Or I'll snap your jaw off."

"How can you stand by after all that has happened here?" Gana asked, trying to reason with Grim. "The Core Empire has warned for centuries that anybody caught harbouring a Jedi would be destroyed ,but they still took the risk! They gambled with our lives!"

"I didn't know I was a damn Jedi until-" Venris couldn't rightly say that he spontaneously developed the ability to use the Force. It had been a result of the primitive survival instinct, manifesting when he needed it in full force. Who would believe that?

"It doesn't matter!" Grim raised his voice. "I won't permit you to endanger Rain's life Gana."

"But Huran-"

"That's _Sergeant Grim_ to you, citizen," Grim scowled. "Now back away or I'll stun you."

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Venris smiled at Grim. "Thank you, I was worried that I might really have to fight them."

"You could have made it easier by handing over your uh...weapon," Grim said, gesturing to the lightsabre that Venris was still clenching tightly.

Realizing that he still held the deactivated weapon, Venris placed it back in his belt. "I'm not going to risk leaving my mother unguarded if the people here decide that we aren't welcome."

"Well then you'd better keep it close then, because you _aren't_ welcome here." The voice of Administrator Mel'nak, appointed only a year ago spoke up. The Bothan stepped out of the ranks of people moving to create as much distance as possible between them and Venris. "Whether or not you intended this, the Core will return so long as one with the Force hides here...especially now that you have defeated one of their mercenaries."

"Mercenary? The Dark Jedi?" Venris stared at the Bothan.

"The Core uses many factions and cults of Force Users...and the darker half of them are more influential in the courts of the Emperor." The Bothan shook his head. "I do not blame you for what has happened here Venris. You have been a part of our colony since you were born, and long have we welcomed you as family...but there will be people from all colonies on Corval that will demand that you leave. I will give your mother time to heal, and no more. After that, you will be given a ship, and you _will _leave Corval...and never return."

"...I understand," Venris shut his eyes. "I thank you for at least giving us a chance to prepare and recover. It's more than anybody else would give us."

"Hold on, if you toss the kid and his mother out there, the Core'll be on them before next week!" Grim protested.

"Not if our visitors are truthful," Mel'nak looked down the hall towards the lobby. "I have spoken with them...they persuaded me to give your mother the time. You may want to go speak to them."

"What, am I the last Officer here?" Grim asked.

"Not you Sergeant...you," Mel'nak said, looking at Venris. "They asked for 'the Jedi'. I assume that means you regardless of whether or not you truly are one."

"What? You mean those ships that showed up?" Venris asked. "Why would their Captain want to talk with me?"

"Whoever they are, they're packing heat," Mel'nak led them towards the lobby. "They've bombed convoys of Core soldiers and ambushed their squadrons with fewer casualties than what the Core soldiers experience. The other Administrators attest to these reports. I believe that within several hours this planet may once more be Core-free."

"Who are they anyways? What species are they?" Grim pressed the Bothan for answers. "What facton do they represent?"

"We represent the Cadian Commonwealth, and we would appreciate it if you ask us these questions directly instead of behind our backs." Grim looked to the source of the voice and found the lobby to be empty except for a single bulky figure sitting in the center of the floor. It wore dark brown robes and a long matching coat with a hood over its head. There was no doubt that this was a Jedi, just like how they were portrayed in every image of the old Order...except for the scimitar hanging on his back.

The being stood up and pulled back his hood, revealing his canine appearance.

"And I am the one who called to you," The alien said, his voice sounded so out of place, like it belonged to a middle aged human and appropriate for delivering a lecture to a class. The sagely tone seemed more out of place on the muscular alien, who towered over the humans and the Bothan. "My name is Kine, Kine Tyrsak."

His brown eyes passed over the trio, resting on Venris. "...this is not Sedita," He leaned down until he was level with the boy, who stared back with wide, shocked eyes. "But so familiar...too young though..."

"I-I-I don't know a S-Sedita," Venris said.

"...then who is the Jedi who inhabits this colony?" Kine asked. "I felt a great surge in the Force upon my approach, and only Sedita ever called upon the Force with such passion and fury. The Cadians saw few humans who ever did match our students in training of the Harbinger-Form."

"This _is_ the Jedi," Mal'nek said impatiently.

"But how can this be? He is but a child," Kine said, genuine surprise on his face. "I thought for sure I had finally found Sedita..."

"Who is Sedita?" Venris asked as the Cadian stood upright, looking away in thought.

"A Jedi, and one whom I thought I had finally found," Kine replied. "When I felt your power, it seemed so...familiar. I had truly hoped to find him long before now, but I feel I may have found the next best thing."

"Next best?" Venris didn't like where this was going.

"Yes," The strained voice of Rain Tenebra wheezed from the hallway. "His son."

Rain was being helped down the hall by one of the doctors, who looked nervous-perhaps having been threatened into helping her.

"Mother this is the least appropriate time for you to be walking around!" Venris helped support her.

"No, if this man knows Sedita, then he-and you must hear this," Rain whispered.

"You tell me that this boy is...Sedita's _son?_" Kine asked.

Rain nodded. "Sedita crashed here at the colony twenty years ago...I was barely a fewy ears older than Venris when it happened. It was after we were attacked by a Core raiding party, led by a Dark Jedi, a Cathar. He was transporting an object of great importance, so important that the Core tracked him here when the colony was not even on any maps."

"..." Kine groaned, pinching the area in the middle of his muzzle. "_Sedita..._you're always making my life a lot more difficult..."

"He showed me what he was transporting, something stolen right from a Core Vault, a high security one if I remember right." Rain continued.

"The Holocron," Kine rumbled.

"What's a Holocron?" Venris and Grim asked at the same time.

"It is a storage device to put it simply, a storage device that holds the knowledge of thousands of beings, or the essence of a single entity," Kine sat down on a bench-which strained under his weight. "It was a Sith Holocron, and Sedita had been tasked by the Primary Council to steal it from Coruscant."

"Coruscant!" Venris had heard of the capital of the long dead Galactic Alliance, and before that the Galactic Empire and the Old Republic for over twenty thousand years. "My father went all the way to Coruscant?"

"And all the way back out here to the Outer Rim, being chased by Core battle fleets," Kine nodded. "He succeeded in his mission. The Holocron was right where he was supposed to leave it...but it had been opened previously. We suspect that he had examined the contents before he left it. We have not been able to find him ever since that day."

"But he has been sending us credits every year," Rain stated.

"Wait-wait-WAIT!" Venris shouted. "Just stop for a second! Somebody tell me what the hell you're all talking about! This is-there's no way to say how confusing all of this is!"

"Venris..." Rain sighed. "Your father's name is Sedita Helion. Twenty years ago he crash landed after he acquired the Holocron from the Core Empire, which tracked him to this very colony. They were led by a Dark Jedi who would have killed all of us if your father had not intervened." She looked at the lightsabre hanging in his belt. "You remind me so much of him now that you have that. I tried to hate him for bringing his enemies to us,"

"_You're not the only one..._" Kine whispered.

"But...you were born months after he left," Rain finished her tale. "I was afraid that you might develop into this...being able to use the Force as your father did."

"The Force is not something to be afraid of," Kine said.

"I'm not afraid of it...I was afraid of what people would do to him if they knew," Rain shook her head. "The Administrator at the time agreed to keep the Midichlorian Test secret, and people eventually stopped asking who the father was. They were used to having pregnant ex-slaves on this planet, and since I hadn't been social at all until that point nobody even knew I had already lived there for a lot longer than nine months."

"Blasted Sedita just _had_ to lose it, didn't he?" Kine growled. "When I find him he won't be getting a slap on the wrist from the Primary Council, oh no. He is getting the beating of his life!"

Ignoring the raging Cadian, Venris looked to his mother's hand as she pulled something from her pocket and placed it in his palms. "He sent this after you were born...he said it was in case you grew up to be like him...so you would be ready." It was a small cube shaped device that looked to be partially made of some sort of blue glass.

"A Jedi Holocron," Kine said. "And I recognize the design...our archivists had been wondering where it had vanished to."

"What does it do?" Venris asked.

"This is a training Holocron utilized by the Cadian Jedi," Kine explained. "It holds the knowledge of one of the greatest Jedi in the history of this galaxy, once a grand master of the Jedi Order and the one who resurrected it after the Clone Wars and the Galactic Rebellion: Luke Skywalker."

Now _that _was a name that was taboo in pretty much every part of the galaxy today. Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker (who was also known as Darth Vader), and here was a Holocron carrying an image of him that would train whoever opened it!

"But in order to open a Holocron," Kine spoke. "One must use the Force, and it is not such an easy matter for all but the most experienced of Jedi. It is a task like trying to create a sculpture by sliding a thousand pieces into place without any way to secure them and praying they stay in place."

"Then why would he leave it to me?" Venris asked.

"Sedita always thought that if there was a Force Sensitive, the Jedi would find him eventually," Kine replied. "Perhaps he suspected that an experienced Jedi would come to find you...which he was right to think in that case." He gently took the Holocron from Venris' grasp. "We have much that must be discussed, you and I, Venris Helion."

"Tenebra," Venris corrected him. "I...I never knew Sedita Helion, and father or not I am still Venris Tenebra."

"Very well then, Venris Tenebra," Kine nodded. "You are no longer safe on this world. The Core will amass a battle fleet to seek you out. At first they will think you already left, but when they run out of places to search they will come back here. You must leave for your own safety."

"I'm just waiting for mother to get better," Venris said, still supporting Rain.

"My people shall take her to safety," Kine said gently. "But you...you need to come with me. You have a power that has gone untapped for two decades. Most Jedi are trained from the point that they can walk until they are well into their adulthood. But you...you are a special case. We will need to take you somewhere that you can develop your control."

"Hold on now, I never agreed to become a Jedi," Venris said, his eyes narrowing. "And I don't want anything to do with the Order. I owe you nothing, I owe the Order nothing, if anything they owe me for causing all of this to happen."

"You owe the Order for your _existence,_" Kine somehow managed to speak softly, yet sound forceful at the same time. "If Sedita had never crashed here, you would be a mere idea, a glimmer in your mother's dreams of what she wished she could have had. And you have to find your father somehow."

"Who says I have to? If he ran off somewhere then he had a good reason," Venris argued. "Why should I go hunting for him when he could have shown himself to you at any time for the past twenty years?"

"Because the only way for your mother to ever truly be safe now is to learn to fight against those who would see her dead!" Kine raised his voice. "Now that they know of your existence, of a Force Sensitive with such power, who can cause such devastation they will not waver in their resolve to find you. They will tear entire planets twice as large as this one apart until they find you and either turn you or kill you! And before they kill you they will make you watch your mother die, and if they turn you they will force you to kill her yourself to cut any emotional ties to another human! You have a power that many would give their lives to possess, a power to protect your mother, and you should be _thankful!_" The last word came out as a shout before the Cadian calmed himself. "If you do not learn to control your power, the Sith will find you eventually. And when they do...may the Force save you, because I will be far too busy fighting elsewhere."

Venris shook with fury and fright at the same time. He did not wish to run off and join the Jedi Order, become their pet project; but he did not want to leave his mother exposed by keeping himself weak. He had to learn...there was no other choice.

"...where will you take her?"

"Venris..." Rain tried to speak.

"We will take your mother to Cadia Prime," Kine said. "She will be safe there from the most obvious of threats...but even Cadia has proven to have flaws in its defences."

"You don't have to remind me of the peril my mother is in Cadian, just tell me where you will be taking _me._" Venris demanded.

"You will have to follow me to learn how to control the Force, to manipulate it to an extent that you could open this Holocron yourself," Kine said in that sagel voice he possessed. "We will go to the training grounds used by the Cadian Jedi Order since the days of the old Order."

"Hold on now, I'm not going to sit here and wait for the Core to attack my home again," Grim said. "And I'm not about to let the kid go out on his own with you."

"I understand your concerns...and the Commonwealth can always use volunteers," Kine said as he looked down at the human soldier. "How long have you served as a soldier here?"

"I worked as a mercenary out of Nar Shadda for four or five years, and joined the Colonial Guard seven years ago," Grim replied, chin held high and not backing down despite how everybody else was intimidated by the size of the Cadian. "And I just had to shoot my way through more soldiers than I've ever had to fight before a few hours ago."

"Your soldiers think well of you," Kine said, his eyes wandering to the hall where several of Grim's men were watching the conversation. "Many of the colonists believe that the boy has used the Force to control your mind!" The Cadian actually laughed. "What is your name?"

"Huran Grim, Sergeant Huran Grim," Grim replied.

"Huran Grim, do you wish to fight against those who have invaded your lands?"

"I do."

"Are you willing to follow the orders of any member of the Commonwealth who exceeds your rank and experience?"

"I am."

"Are you willing to take the risks that come with war? The Commonwealth is much smaller than the Core Empire despite our success here. Not all of our battles go so well."

"I'm ready and willing," Grim nodded.

"So be it," Kine drew his scimitar, causing several of Grim's men to tense and rush into the lobby with their hands to their guns.

"Stand down!" Grim barked at them. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe I will be leaving you all for an undefined amount of time."

"Sir?" One of the soldiers took their helmet off, a confused look on the face of the Togrutan beneath.

"I will be joining the Cadian Army, and I do believe that Kine here was about to make it official," Grim looked back up at Kine, who nodded.

"...then you ain't going alone," One of the soldiers said, stepping forward. "The Core invaded us, we're just a farming colony and they brought a damn armada to kill us all!"

"People died here today, a lot of them were children," A woman said. "I don't know why the Core would go through so much trouble for one untrained Jedi, but I know that they're the ones to blame."

Several more of the mercenaries stepped forward, volunteering themselves.

"You are all so loyal to this world? That is rare in soldiers of fortune," Kine observed.

"This place became home to us...we don't particularly like it when people try to destroy it," Grim said.

"Huran Grim, you have vowed to obey the protocol and laws of the Cadian Commonwealth," Kine spoke up, drawing attention from others in the hallways and outside the lobby. "For this I accept your plea to join us in our fight." He rested the flat of his scimitar on Grim's left shoulder, and then moved it to his cheek and gave him a thin cut as he pulled back. "And that is so that you remember what you have promised."

Grim put one hand to the cut, which blood oozed out of.

"To all who will join us, step forward."

Venris watched as right there in the lobby of the Settlement 9 clinic eight of the colony's mercenaries were recruited into the Cadian Army. Outside he saw more of them, Cadians who were clad in armour that was a dark gray colour. But from compartments and slots came blue lights that made them appear rather impressive to look at. They held rifles that looked too smoothly shaped to be practical, more like they were for appearances. But then a whole line of them snapped to attention as Kine stepped out. The Jedi beckoned with one hand to the mercenaries, who followed him out into the street where a crowd of confused and awe struck colonists met them.

"These men and women have chosen to fight those who have attacked you," Kine announced. "To fight the evil that has murdered your loved ones and burned your fields. They are now welcome members of the Cadian Commonwealth...and may the Force guide them in war and in peace."

The line of Cadians fired three salvos into the air. Their guns fired blue spheres of light that shot into the sky and vanished in the distance, as fast as a blaster bolt. Some people stepped back before realizing that the salvos had been celebratory rather than a signal to attack. Venris watched from the doors of the clinic, holding his mother up so she could witness the event also.

The Cadian soldiers then began to welcome the mix of aliens to their ranks, patting them on the back, shaking their hand or presenting them with tokens of welcome in the form of cloths that had the Cadian symbol etched on to them. The symbol was the shape of a Cadian's head from the side, jaws opened in a howl.

Kine chose this moment to return to Venris and Rain. "I know that you must despise us for doing this, changing your life so drastically," He nodded. "...but this war has been raging in the quiet corners of the galaxy ever since the Core Empire attempted to force its will on the galaxy. Now is the time for action...and perhaps your coming is a sign that the time for silence has ended, Venris Tenebra."

"Please...take care of him," Rain begged, hugging Venris tightly. "I...I wanted to badly to avoid letting him go just to wander into danger."

"I understand your fears," Kine knelt so that he was at their height. "And I promise you that no harm will befall your son so long as he is under my protection...and thus my vow is made." He bowed his head. "We will not leave yet. The Commonwealth will dispatch ships here to construct a station and leave a small defence force...in case the Empire returns."

"Are you making our world part of your commonwealth?" Administrator Mel'Nak demanded as he stepped out of the lobby to join the discussion, raising his voice over the crowd's.

"Not unless you decide as a whole to join," Kine shook his head. "And even then you would not be required to adhere to our laws. Other governments have joined the Commonwealth ever since it was originally formed by the warring nations of our world so long ago. It is only recently that they have joined more often to seek safety from the empire as its aggressive stance grows. This is only one of many incursions into neutral space by the Empire, and with these soldiers."

"What's so different about them?" Venris asked. "They all wear Imperial colours."

"They do, but it is what lies beneath the armour that concerns me," Kine led them around the back of the Clinic to where several Cadians had set up a command post. The bodies of several Core Troopers were lying in a row. "Remove their helmets, let our friends see their foe for what they are."

A Cadian soldier nodded and knelt over one Core Trooper. He removed the dark helmet, revealing a human male. His skin was tanned, and his hair was short and dark in a military crew cut, matching his dark eyes that stared endlessly at the skies above. He appeared young, perhaps only in his twenties.

"Humans make up the bulk of the Empire," Mel'nak said dismissively. "What is so different?"

"Show them," Kine said to the soldier, who removed the helmets of two more core Troopers...

Showing the exact same face! There were some minor differences. One had what looked like a battle scar on his left cheek, another had shaved his head bald. One of them also looked a lot older, with some wrinkles forming, but aside from that they were perfect matches of the first soldier.

"...clones!" Mel'nak said, eyes wide with recognition.

"Yes...clone troopers," Kine knelt, examining the face of one. "And what is most disturbing is that they are all Mandalorian clones."

"Just like from the Clone Wars!" Venris spoke before he even thought about it, and shut his mouth.

"Yes, exactly like the Clone Wars from long ago," Kine nodded to Venris. "This coincides with a recent campaign by the Empire nearly twenty years ago, around the time Sedita vanished. The Kamino Campaign."

"Kamino? But that's even further out than we are," Grim said. "Doesn't take a genius to point it out on a map, it's right on the bleeding edge of known space."

"Beyond the Outer Rim, correct," Kine said. "And it is also where the first Clone Army was created. A second one had been in development to combat the Empire before the planet was seized. After the Rebellion it remained in Imperial hands for many centuries. But then two hundred years ago the Hutt Alliance took it over and used it to breed cheap and numerous slaves until twenty years ago when an Imperial Fleet of War invaded and conquered it within the span of a month. We were curious as to why a Fleet of War would go so far out from home, and why they would occupy Kamino instead of raiding it...until the blockade and planetary shield finally opened. And this new Clone Army spread out across the Outer Rim."

"The Empire is mimicking what the old Empire did seven thousand years ago?" Mel'nak asked.

"Not entirely," Kine shook his head. "A good number of the Empire's soldiers are still regulars. Kamino was also used to do what nobody else had ever done: to clone a Jedi."

"But isn't there supposed to be some...fancy medical term I cannot remember at this time that prevents that?" Grim asked.

"Yes, but Emperor Palpatine overcame that problem...or more specifically his apprentice Darth Vader did." Kine explained. "And with it they cloned a Jedi who was so powerful...that there has been no other like him until perhaps now." He looked at Venris, who looked away quickly. "There were DNA samples of the original clone template left on Kamino, kept preserved until now and used to create this new clone army. But the sample of the Jedi...of the legendary Starkiller was lost, its location with it."

"And you're worried that they intend to make more Dark Jedi with this?" Grim asked.

"I worry that they will make _Sith Lords _using this," Kine corrected. "The primary Sith Faction is the Sith Nation as you know, scattered into small pockets across this galaxy and cut off from society. But...the true Sith are never in the open. Until recently there were only two, one of them still unknown to us. The other currently assists the Empire with its Anti-Jedi efforts, a man named Darth Novus. He is a master of the force to such a degree that few could ever equal. He is responsible for the destruction of entire systems in his maddened search for Jedi, but what is most concerning to me is that he has erased the Rule of Two."

"Rule...of...Two?" Venris sounded the words out. "Let's assume that none of us present know a thing about the Sith."

"I doubted you would have heard of it," Kine sighed. "I can see I was correct. The Rule of Two was established thousands of years ago by Darth Bane, a Sith Lord who believed that the Dark Side of the Force was finite, limited, and stretched out among an entire empire. So he eliminated all but himself and one apprentice, establishing the Rule of Two. One Master...one Apprentice, and that is how it has always been until the re-emergence of the Sith. The Master would train an Apprentice, who would kill the Master in combat and take his place."

A chill ran up Venris' spine as the Cadian explained Sith Lore to them.

"He has removed it, and gathers an Order of Sith Knights," Kine said. "One that could destroy the Jedi Order forevermore and establish ha permanent Sith stranglehold on this galaxy if it is allowed to fester."

"And the Commonwealth is the one thing to handle it?" Grim asked expectantly.

"Us...and the people of this galaxy as a whole," Kine replied. "The fall of order, the rise of darkness, all had been foretold to my people by Jedi of great power long ago, when we were beginning to explore the stars for ourselves." He looked up at the sky almost longingly. "And the duty has fallen to us by our own decision, as it must to any who will fight against the Sith." He looked to Venris. "It has fallen to you the moment you agree to come with me Venris...become my apprentice and stop playing at Farm Boy." He pulled Venris' lightsabre from his belt and held it out. "Stop pretending to be something that you can no longer become. You can no more try to be crippled, nor could I try to be a Cathar. The Force flows through you, and it will not be ignored." He let the hilt float above his palm. "Become a Jedi."

Venris stared at the floating lightsabre hilt that he had taken from the Chiss girl. "...the original owner of that is the one who almost killed my mother."

"I recognized it as the possession of an Apprentice, the apprentice of Darth Praedus," Kine nodded. "If you follow me, I will help you to find them, and to fight them."

Venris slowly handed his mother off to Grim, who scooped her up and held her easily as she stared at her son. Venris slowly reached out and wrapped his hands around the hilt of the lightsabre, taking it from the Force Grip of Kine's power and activated the red blade. Despite how it's glow made him appear...darker, it also matched the gleam in his eyes as he looked to Kine.

His words were laced with anticipation. "Then teach me to be a Jedi...master." He deactivated the lightsabre and bowed his head. "Teach me."

"Rise, Padawan Tenebra," Kine said. "You are now a part of the Cadian Order of Jedi, from now until death. And we are not so soft as our predecessors of the Primary Order."

Xxx

End of Chapter


	6. Chapter 6

Dark Future

I do not own Star Wars. The Cadian species belongs to my friend Ryan Starkey.

Read and Review

Info: The Jedi and Sith remnants are now many small factions that are loosely aligned with one another. The Primary Jedi Council is the remnant of the original Jedi Order while other Jedi Factions have formed, following traditions of their own species or planet more than that of the original Council, which has degraded in terms of tradition somewhat. The Cadian Order is based on Cadia Prime in the Cadian Commonwealth, and practices more aggressive traditions when it comes to training and fighting while teaching their students to resist the pull of the Dark Side. Their controversial methods leave them disliked by most Jedi Factions, but their warriors are capable of destroying entire platoons of men without once giving in to their darker half.

Xxx

_**Part 6**_

The Cadian frigate had landed outside of Settlement 9, unloading a whole company of soldiers to secure the region. They had fighter craft (or drones as the Cadians called them) and armoured vehicles to help them eliminate the Core Troopers left behind. Slowly people began to come out of hiding all over the area and head for the settlements for help.

More Cadian ships were on the way. The two ships that had arrived only had been there because they had been tracking the Core Fleet that had invaded for days. Kine's flagship, the _Pride of Cadia_ remained in orbit to guard over the planet in case the Core thought of making a raid against it in revenge. The carrier had a hundred fighters according to Kine when he told Venris about the Cadian Navy.

After the elimination of Core survivors was done, the rescue operations began. Cadian troops began to locate stranded or injured colonists out in the countryside and moved them to their frigate, which had an onboard medical center with plenty of Bacta, something that Rain was forced to endure for two days as a result of her burns.

Mercenary guards from every one of the settlements on Corval stepped forward to join the Cadian Army for varying reasons from revenge against the Core to the improved wage. Venris' involvement became the talk of _several_ towns, and he was forced to leave Settlement 9 and stay on the frigate _Blood Hound_ where it was still set down in the fields. The ship was twice the size of a freighter, and the landing gear used to hold the hull off of the ground was as thick as a small building.

Venris was sitting out on the grass, waiting for Kine as instructed. The Cadian Jedi had finally decided to begin training Venris the night before, telling him that every morning until they left Venris would wait outside of the _Hound_ for Kine.

The Cadian had given him some new clothes to wear. He wore a pair of boots fit for hiking in the summer environment that most of Corval experienced nearly all year around, and a set of slightly baggy white pants and a tunic that matched it perfectly. His lightsabre hung from his belt where he had chosen to keep it now.

He felt ready to train, ready to learn how to master the Force...

If only his damned master could get his furry butt out of the ship without taking two hours! The Cadian had yet to even appear and Venris felt like an idiot every time one of the crew disembarked or entered the ship via the primary entry ramp.

When he got his hands on that overgrown dog, he's-

"One key lesson that a Jedi must learn is to control their anger," There it was, that voice! Venris spun and saw the Cadian stepping down the ramp, no longer wearing his signature battle armour or carrying much of any weapons except for his lightsabre. "And another is patience."

"Is that why you had me waiting out here for two hours?" Venris asked.

"If you recall, I only said to wait for me out here, I did not say when to start waiting or when I would arrive," Kine pointed out.

"So how the hell do I manage to wait for you if I don't know when you'll show up?"

"By waiting in advance," Kine replied as if was a simple fact. "Now, enough of that, it is time to begin your training as a Jedi. We won't be jumping immediately to Lightsabre combat training, for now I will determine the measure of control you have over the Force."

"How will you do that-" Venris asked before a hatch opened and several large crates dropped out of the ship. One popped open and rocks poured out of it. "Rocks?"

"Yes," Kine nodded. "Rocks. And you will begin by learning how to manipulate the movement of these rocks. You can push and pull well enough, but can you simply _lift_ them?"

"How do I do that?" Venris asked.

"Intuition is part of your training. I can no more tell you how to manipulate the Force and to accept its commands anymore than I could teach a new born child to breathe or to curl its fingers and toes. They do it on their own because it is instinct, so simple that nobody can explain how one can learn it" Kine sat down nearby. "You reacted with violent and sudden actions because the situation demanded it. For this you must will these crates to move where you want them to move, and to form any shape you wish."

Venris took a deep breath and raised his hand. He feared that he would not be able to call on the Force again to move the crates and that he would stand there all day waiting for nothing...

And then the crate he aimed his hand at shifted a bit, just a few inches in his direction when he wanted it to move towards him. Exhaling, he glanced at Kine, who kept an unattached look while observing his new apprentice.

"Keep going," The Cadian said calmly.

Venris slowly lifted the crate up, feeling a sudden strain on his whole body, like every muscle was working at once to lift a house. "Ah...it feels..."

"Like you are physically trying to lift that crate with your own two hands?" Kine finished for him. "Yes, but as you learn greater control it will feel like lifting a feather. Now...move that crate in a circle in mid air."

Venris pictured the movements of the crate, taking deeper breathes as fatigue slowly began to creep into his senses. The crate move at a sluggish pace in a circular pattern, twitching every little bit here and there when Venris' control wavered.

"Good...keep going," Kine said, sounding slightly more encouraging as he moved to Venris' side. "Most beginning padawans would not be able to move something this heavy for months, even in the Cadian Order. But you...the energy just seems to flow right out of you as if it asks to be used."

Slowly the crate began to even out, but it still moved at a snail's pace. Venris' arms were shaking with effort as his muscles began to burn. He clenched his teeth, sucking in a breath before releasing the crate, letting it drop to the ground. He gasped for breath, hands on his knees as the aching feeling began to fade away-

TZZ!

"AH!" Venris fell over, clutching his side where a stinging pain had formed.

Kine stood over him, holding a long staff. The tip sparked a bit before he retracted it into a small handle sized object. "I didn't say to release it."

"What the hell? You shocked me-?"

The staff snapped out and prodded his ribs again.

TZZ!

"GAH!" Venris arched his back before the staff was pulled back.

"No disrespecting or disobeying your master," Kine said. "This is the Cadian Order, not the Primary Order where they take Holo Privileges away. Here, we test the self control of our students to the point that they do not react to pain with more emotion. And look on the bright side: if you live long enough to become a Master, you'll have a Padawan of your own you can do this to later!"

Venris groaned as he got up.

"Now...lift the crate again," Kine said. "And try to distract yourself from the pain. You are a Jedi, weight and time means nothing to you. The Force is limitless, and so is your access to it. Now...lift it."

Venris brought the crate back up, his arms shaking erratically as Kine paced, the shock staff leaning on one of his shoulders.

"Now...I'm going to tell you something Venris," Kine faced him. "About your father, Sedita Helion...my last Padawan."

That fact almost made Venris drop the crate, but he willed himself to keep it up and move it in circles again.

"He went through this very same test twenty five years ago, when he was but your age," Kine narrated. "And he reacted just as you did...and as did I three hundred years ago when I underwent my training."

"Three hundred?" Venris managed to squeeze the words out.

"I was fifteen at the time," Kine chuckled. "I may not look it, but I will live to be nearly a thousand should my health remain well or war does not claim me. But back to the story...your father was brought to us by his mother all the way from Coruscant, something almost unheard of by any Order. A force sensitive escaping from Coruscant, the most heavily guarded Core world in the galaxy. Any force sensitive there is made to join the ranks of Dark Jedi who have paid off the Empire. He made his way to Dantooine, but the masters there felt he had too much hatred within him to ever be trained despite only being several years old. They elected to refuse his training, but I stepped in on behalf of the Cadian Jedi and took him under my wing, despite many protests from the Primary Council on Dantooine."

He tapped the staff against the crate as it passed by him while completing another circuit. "He excelled in our ranks. He grew to control that rage, and became a Jedi Knight by the time he was your age. It was only a few years more that he spent in our Order, but in that time he showed such skill and power that he was tutored by Masters of other Orders who wished to test him. Soon he lost that flare of rage entirely, becoming more appropriate in the eyes of even the Primary Council. He was their perfect example of what a Jedi should be: utterly loyal without fault and devoid of attachments...until he landed here it seems."

He tapped the butt of his staff against the crate again. "And thus here we are, with the son he was forbidden to have, who has inherited powers that the Sith will no doubt want to corrupt-" The crate dropped to the grass as Venris stumbled in his focus.

TZZ!

"AH!"

"Back up in the air."

Venris was so eager to hear the story that he did not hesitate. The crate rose into the air quickly, no longer like it was being dragged through mud. Venris found it much easier to move now, and found the aching seem to be a mere echo of what it used to be now. He focused on Kine's words, moving the crate as though it was second nature.

"Sith who will no doubt wish to corrupt you so you serve their purpose," Kine continued. "Any Jedi, no matter how powerful they are can be corrupted, given time and pressure. When I am done with you, you will be able to resist any temptation...or I swear I will drag you back to the training mat and shock you until your hair burns off and can't be grown back."

"Were you always like this with my father?" Venris asked.

"Oh trust me, at this point in training he was still swearing at me," Kine chuckled. "I didn't know a six year old could have such a vocabulary." He paused, looking at Venris' outstretched arms. "...they're no longer shaking. It isn't so difficult now, is it?"

"No...it isn't," Venris said, lowering one hand and manoeuvring the crate with just one hand. "You were right...it's all instinct, like breathing. It feels so light now."

"You are learning quickly from throwing things around or slamming Dark Jedi with powerful force blasts," Kine chuckled. "Sergeant Grim gave me a detailed analysis of your fight. You have paramilitary training from the mercenaries, correct?"

"I do my best at it," Venris nodded.

"It taught you to focus and remain calm in a combat situation?"

"Yes."

"It showed you how to shoot?"

"Yes."

"How to fight with your fists and a knife?"

"I was better with the rifle," Venris nodded. "But yes."

"Did it teach you how to block an attack from behind?" Venris' eyes widened, realizing that while he had been listening and staring at the crate Kine had moved behind him. Dropping it, he spun and had his lightsabre out, slicing through the middle of the shock staff before Kine could bring it up to attack with.

He hadn't even thought about it, his body just went through the motions and it happened. The red blade now was held at his side, retracting into the hilt. The swing had been so fast that by the time Venris blinked it was over.

Kine nodded, dropping the other half of the staff. "Good reactions..." Suddenly another handle flew into his palm and extended into a new shock staff.

TZZZ!

"But you dropped the crate without my permission," He said as Venris lay on his back, one foot twitching slightly.

"I..hate...you."

TZZZZ!

"No disrespecting your master." Kine said. "I can just tell I'll be shocking you more than I did Sedita."

Xxx

Rain was helped out of the Bacta Tank and onto a towel covered bed by Kine. "Your son is doing well in his training, Lady Helion."

"Don't call me that," Rain muttered. "I don't hate Sed, but I'm not his wife."

"Wife or not, you do inherit the lands given to him by the Commonwealth," Kine informed her. "As a Jedi, he did not even set foot onto his own property, but the Cadian Order provides for Jedi and family."

"Your Jedi have family?" Rain asked as she dried herself off.

"Some do," Kine shrugged. "Others don't, they enjoy their duties too much or just don't trust themselves."

"So technically Sedita didn't do anything wrong?"

"Not in the eyes of the Cadian Order...except for pre-marital sex," Kine shrugged. "And even then I'd be a hypocrite if I charged him for that."

"I really didn't need to know that," Rain shuddered. "You're not hurting Ven, are you?"

"A little shock goes a long way," Kine replied.

"So does a ripped off tail," Rain said, looking at Kine's tail as it swayed back and forth from under the hem of his robe.

"Touché," The Cadian nodded. "But I did the same thing to Sedita when he was my apprentice and he held up when he was only six."

"You shocked a six year old?"

"It was a low setting," He assured her.

"When will you be leaving with my son?"

"In a few more days, I wish to train him in a familiar environment first," Kine explained. "It helps if the Padawan is in a comfortable setting for training. He told me that you both lived out in this area."

"Ever since he was born," Rain nodded. "Where will you take him?"

"We will go to find his father," Kine handed her a robe of her own for her to put on. "I believe I may know who will help, and if I have Sedita's son with me now he may be more inclined to cooperate."

"Why would he be afraid of Venris?"

"Because he once crossed Sedita and paid for it," Kine replied. "He does not fear me because Sedita is the only one I know who ever surpassed me when it came to causing pain to another being. If he knows that Sedita's son stands before him, and I imply that Sedita's son is a trained Jedi, he will believe that Venris is just as bad if not worse than his father at treating this particular individual nicely."

"You make Sedita sound like a sadist."

"He was the opposite," Kine shook his head. "He was good at interrogation, but he took no pleasure in the screams of any he harmed. He only did so when forced to. This one person was too strong to use a Mind Trick on, and his thoughts are protected by technology. Physical persuasion is the only alternative."

"Who is this person anyways?"

"If I don't tell you, then you can truthfully claim that you do not know who we are seeking, should you ever be questioned." Kine turned away, looking at the view port built into the side of the infirmary. In the middle of a battle it would be covered by thick armour plating that could slid over it at will. "I will tell you this and only this: he is deep within the Core Empire's capital."

"Coruscant?" Rain almost jumped off of the bed-and would have had the Cadian not held her down by her shoulders. "You're taking my baby to Coruscant?"

Kine groaned. "_Just_ as loud as Sedita when he was a kid."

"Kine, you listen to me now, you are not taking Ven anywhere near Coruscant!" Rain said sternly. "That planet is all but built to detect Force Sensitives the moment they enter the system."

"Yes, but only if it can sense that person," Kine corrected her. "I have infiltrated Coruscant before, and I have gone as far as the palace of Cal'Denmar before I dared not risk it further. You would be surprised how many Jedi infiltrators exist. You could be in a room filled with Core Soldiers and two of them might meet by accident...during one such time that I found myself cornered. It was a one in ten thousand chance, and it saved my life."

"Well my son is not a spy, and in the time it takes to reach Coruscant you could not teach him how-"

"I don't have to teach him," Kine cut her off. "I will arrange for a contact to...allow the sensors to malfunction momentarily so we might slip through the designated orbital immigration path ways. Once we reach the surface we will be far from any of the Core Imperial facilities. They don't bother searching the Forgotten Districts of Coruscant anymore."

"Forgotten Districts..." Rain relaxed, allowing Kine to release her. "I've never been there...I only hear it's the worst place on Coruscant."

"Only if you don't have friends there," Kine replied. "If you do...then you're the one who makes it the worst place...for any enemy you designate. I designated Core Army units as my enemies there...and anybody who didn't already hate them by that point no longer wished to become friendly with them after that."

"Why would you take Venris there?" She asked, looking up at the Cadian.

"To meet somebody who could tell us where to find Sedita," Kine replied. "Perhaps with him, and when your son is fully trained, we can end the spreading influence of the Core Empire. Wars are no longer fought with battle fleets and armies, not the true wars anyhow. The greatest steps are taken in battle between the primary players who possess the greatest of influence. A fleet s capable of destroying a planet, but it is that prime mover who dictates their actions."

He chose to go into the long winded utter pile of Bantha Droppings in order to keep Rain from inquiring further into the purpose of his mission with Venris: Starkiller, the greatest force user in known history. If the Core Empire ever found the long lost location of the hidden sample, preserved almost as long as that of Jango Fett's then it would spell doom for all foes of the Core, even the Cadian Commonwealth would be useless against an army of Sith Starkillers.

Oddly though, he found comfort in the fact of Venris' existence, as though this new player on the board changed the whole scale of the battlefield. All that was needed was guidance, and then Venris would have but to decide for himself what his destiny is to be.

...but first he had to learn how to fight.

Xxx

"Form II, Makashi," Kine said as he and Venris held a set of training sabres. "Traditionally it is made for duelling, poor choice for fighting against a blaster unless you are experienced enough at it. But if you face another sabre user then you will use jabs, light swings, not heavy and wide blows." He held up his training blade and made several sample attacks at thin air. "It isn't my favoured style, but I'm gauging you to find out what you are best suited for. Now, since we have time we'll do that traditional Makashi salute."

After showing him the salute, they both held their blades up in one hand in front of them, pointed straight up, and flicked it down to their sides in a flourish. Venris kept his feet shoulder length apart and his thumb pointing down the length of the hilt.

"The point of Makashi is to be fluid, unrestricted," Kine instructed. "As a force user, you might find it easier to apply this to combat. Are you using your strong hand?"

Venris nodded. "Ready."

"Now, you can try it one handed or two handed, one handed gives you better range," Kine advised. "Some try to use Makashi with two blades...they have to be particularly good at it in order to accomplish this."

"How good?"

"The last true master I can recall was born seven thousand years ago and served a Sith Lord," Kine shrugged. "Now, en garde!"

Venris at first made his movements too wide, used too much energy in fighting off Kine. But after a few shocks to the ribs Venris' movements with his hand was more controlled, faster and smaller. A flick of the wrist, a jab here and there...but then Kine flicked his sword up and held the tip of his training sabre to his neck. "Dead." He then pulled out his shock baton and jabbed it at Venris.

But Venris flicked his sword downwards in a counter clockwise movement that pushed Kine's shock baton away. The Cadian chuckled. "Glad to see I chose a student who takes a stand."

Then he attacked again, using both his lightsabre and the shock baton as he tried to hit Venris with either one. But the human managed to keep his sword up to defend and avoid moving it too far to counter the second weapon. His movements were rather basic though, and Kine was not attacking in full earnest.

"Good! Good...should I guess that you and your friends often had pretend sword fights?" Kine asked.

"You'd be right," Venris nodded. "Just with sticks though."

"Did you ever try using footwork to outmanoeuvre your opponent?" Kine continued, caught in a sabre lock with Venris. The training sabres crackled and sparked. "There was another master of Makashi, a former Jedi turned Sith named Dooku, or Darth Tyranis. He could take on multiple opponents at once using one bladed Makashi."

"Really?"

"Yes-" Kine swung the shock baton at Venris, catching him off guard and below the ribs again. The apprentice collapsed, coughing.

"Never let your guard down and be prepared for anything," Kine instructed. "Now, I will show you proper poses and techniques for Makashi. You're a fast learner so I'm hoping that I won't have to spend much time teaching you the basics."

Xxx

By the time Kine let up, it was lunch time and Venris had been shocked perhaps twenty or thirty times. Setting the training sabres down, they joined several crew who were off duty along with Sergeant Grim and his mercenary companions on the grass near the _Bloodhound_. With the presence of the large Cadian carrier dozens of miles overhead and more ships on the way the Cadians had allowed non-essential crew to take breaks outside the ship.

"This looks unorthodox," Venris commented as he and Kine sat away from the main group. "Usually the Guard Captain keeps all of the guards within or around the settlement at all times and never lets them sit around."

"It is never a bad thing to let your soldiers have a moment's rest, so long as you have other soldiers to be ready to combat the next threat should it come earlier than expected." Kine replied. "This is but a tenth of the crew, and only those who worked late into the night. If we did not allow them certain luxuries every little while, they would come to resent me as a leader. It is a relationship of leader and subordinate, and a leader who knows how harsh to be and when to give to his crew. So I am giving them a break."

"Damn, where have you been all my life?" One of the mercenaries chuckled, overhearing the conversation.

"Don't think you'll get any more breaks after this," Kine sounded stern again. "You're being assigned to the Wolf Pack after this. They're tougher than tough and they deal one hell of a punishment for discipline."

"Way to go, Private," Grim lightly slapped the back of the man's head. "Well at least I know where I'm serving now. What's the Wolf Pack's primary purpose?"

"Besides blasting any and all enemies to the Cadian Commonwealth?" Kine asked rhetorically.

"I mean are they a basic infantry unit, an insertion squadron-"

"Full special operations, or as they like to phrase it," Kine air quoted. "_Extreme Black Ops._"

"...they sound like a bunch of kids when you put it that way," Grim commented.

"Don't tell them that; they're older than you."

"Physically, yes." Grim shot back.

"Don't make me tell them that you're insulting them behind their backs."

"Oh what'll they do-"

"Don't tell me you're insulting us behind our backs."

"...because their leader is right behind you." Kine pointed over Grim's shoulder. The man slowly turned to find himself facing a Cadian of the 'German Shepherd' species (again that's just for reader benefit so you can picture him), and he wore full combat armour even while on break now. He was glaring down at Grim, one side of his mouth open slightly to show off his teeth as he let out a low growl.

"...hi handsome!" Grim greeted the soldier with a grin. "You're my new commander? Great! I'm happy to be a part of this unit!" In the back of his mind he was thinking 'dear gods I'm going to die.'

The Cadian's eyes narrowed...and then he burst out laughing. "Flattery will get you nowhere but the latrines in the Wolf Pack, human!" He calmed down. "But I pity you enough not to make you do that on your first day. You'll be needed elsewhere."

"Where is that?" Grim inquired, dreading the answer.

"With me," Kine said, "And Venris when we go to Coruscant."

"Lovely, the core of the Empire itself...I'll never get home." Grim grumbled. "Who else is coming?"

"Oh just the three of us," Kine said almost merrily. "You, me, Venris, on one ship while we're tearing apart the training room every other day and causing _plentiful_ damage to other parts of the ship during training. You'll have your hands full, Sergeant Grim."

"...you Cadians are sadists," Grim stated. "Did anybody ever tell you that?"

"We find it to be a compliment," Kine replied. "Now I suggest that you acquaint yourself with Captain Hard-Greave, he will be equipping you with something that's actually suited for war instead of..." He looked at Grim's suit of light infantry armour and the blaster rifle resting next to him. "Whatever the hell that is."

Grim looked down at himself. "What? It's standard issue."

"Precisely the point," Hard-Greave declared. "If you are in the Wolf Pack, you are not a unit, nor are you cannon fodder. You are an individual, one part of a Pack of many which attacks at once...or in your case, attacks alone since you shall be the only escort going with Jedi Master Kine and his padawan."

He added quietly to Kine. "Personally, I hardly think that he is ready for something like this. We should send the whole Pack separately, just in case."

"Very well...but remember Hard-Greave, you owe me for what happened on Venrawr."

"And you never let me forget it, damn you." Hard-Greave sighed.

For several moments there was silence...

"You know I heard all of that, right?" Grim asked.

"Okay I just have to ask: what the hell happened?" Venris demanded.

Hard-Greave shook his head in exasperation. "_Humans._"

"These _humans _are now part of your Wolf Pack and the Cadian Order," Kine reminded him. "And we don't let in every single volunteer Hard-Greave...just the ones that give you the biggest head ache." He stood up. "Venris, grab your saber, it's time to resume training."

When Venris reached for his training saber, Kine tugged it off the ground using the Force and threw it aside. "Not that one, your _real _saber."

"Wait...you mean we're-"

"Going to spar using real lightsabers?" Kine finished for him. "...welcome to the Cadian Jedi Order, my young Padawan."

Xxx

End of chapter


End file.
